Sanford Nowlin

A pair of dockless scooters sit on a sidewalk along North St. Mary's Street.

As largely expected, city council has tightened the rules for dockless scooters, which currently operate on San Antonio streets under a six-month pilot program.The rules approved Thursday prohibit scooter companies from allowing their rentals to be used between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. and encourages users to park them in designated zones — as opposed to strewn all over the sidewalks.Additionally, the city will gain the right to remove or impound scooters that block rights of way. However, city personnel have already been removing some scooters and returning them to rental companies if they pose nuisance of safety threat.Council voted 10-1 to approve the new rules, proposed in January by the city's Transportation Committee. They take effect within five days.In October, city council approved its pilot program to rein in until-then unregulated services offered by Bird, Lime and others rental companies.