Indianapolis sets new rules on electric scooters — including fees and fines

James Briggs | IndyStar

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Here come the scooters — again.

The City-County Council on Monday approved regulations that will allow companies to legally rent dockless electric scooters and bicycles in Indianapolis. The rules include $25 fines for people who park scooters in prohibited areas, such as sidewalk ramps, and put pressure on companies to educate users about how to safely ride the scooters.

The council's action means scooter operators such as Bird and Lime — a pair of California companies that rolled out hundreds of scooters in June and pulled them out last week — can bring back their dockless scooters. Other companies can enter the market as well.

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But it remains to be seen how many companies will pay the new — and steep — cost of admission. The city plans to charge scooter companies an up-front fee of $15,000, plus $1 per day, per device, to operate in the city.

Jason Wilde, a regional manager for Lime, said the company plans to relaunch scooter service in the city, but said the fees could be prohibitive for bringing other products such as bicycles. Lime does not have a timeline for bringing back its scooters.

"The fee structure in particular is currently six times higher than any other market we operate in, which is precedent-setting and makes it hard to have a sustainable business," Wilde said.

Cities across the U.S. have been scrambling to adjust to the sudden arrival of dockless devices, including setting appropriate fees. Seattle, for instance, charges bike-share companies $149, plus $15 per bike; St. Louis charges $500 for a permit, plus $10 per bike, according to The Washington Post. Washington, D.C., considered imposing a fee of up to $80,000 on companies before postponing a decision, according to The Post.

Thomas Cook, the chief of staff for Mayor Joe Hogsett, said fee structures in other cities were not a decisive factor in setting prices in Indianapolis.

"We are comfortable that these fees reflect what fees are supposed to reflect, which is estimated cost to the city," Cook said.

Indianapolis will use the money from fees to hold companies and users accountable to the new rules. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will be tasked with enforcing ridership rules, such as not allowing users to ride on sidewalks or trails. The Department of Business and Neighborhood Services will look for code violations, such as illegally parked scooters.

Council members expressed concerns with pinning more responsibility on IMPD, as well as letting Lime and Bird relaunch after they briefly operated in defiance of a request from the city to cease services.

"Our police officers have plenty to do without this kind of enforcement," City-County Council Republican Marilyn Pfisterer said. "This is way down the list of priorities."

Several council members wanted to postpone the proposed regulations and take more time to consider them. Cook, though, warned council members that if they did not pass the proposal Monday, Bird and Lime would put scooters back on the sidewalks and rent them without rules.

"The city has not produced any legal reason why they cannot operate," Cook said.

Bird previously operated 500 scooters and Lime 300 in Indianapolis. Both companies removed all of their scooters last week ahead of the council's vote. Bird did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it plans to restart service.

The city plans to continue writing rules that could open up more areas in which users can legally ride scooters. For now, riders are limited mostly to streets and bike lanes.

"I believe ultimately it would be good to get them on trails," said Jeff Miller, a council Republican who represents parts of Downtown. "At a limited speed of 15 miles per hour, they can be used safely."

Call IndyStar reporter James Briggs at 317-444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.