WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – West Lafayette has been warning for months, after Bird Rides Inc. dropped into the city in August 2018, that regulations were coming.

This week, the city laid out what it has in mind for rules, fees and permits for Bird scooters and other rental electric vehicles meant to replace cars for what the growing industry considers smartphone-enabled, “last-mile” transportation systems.

“We know people love these things,” Mayor John Dennis said in December of Bird’s aggressive intro into the West Lafayette and Purdue market, which had an estimated 1,700 on city streets and sidewalks at one point during the university’s fall semester. “We just need to get a better handle on things.”

The West Lafayette City Council will get a look at the 13-page ordinance during a work session Thursday. The first vote could come Monday, with a second coming as early as Feb. 4. Here’s a look.

WHAT THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE CALLS FOR

► Permits: Companies would need to get a permit from the city, valued at $15,000 a year, plus $1 per scooter operating in West Lafayette. Erik Carlson, West Lafayette’s development director, said the permit cost structure was based on an ordinance Indianapolis approved in 2018. Companies would have to prove it had insurance. The companies also would need to have customer service telephone number answered by “a live person or live persons who are available 24 hours a day.”

► Scooter regulations: Each scooter would need a number visible to nearby pedestrians could identify the company and the particular device. Scooters would need to be equipped with a bell, horn or other “lawful sound-signaling device.” Users would not be able to ride a scooter “while controlling an animal, either by hand or on a leash.” The company would need to come up with ways the users sign off on an understanding that scooter riders need to follow all traffic law, not ride on sidewalks, yield to pedestrians and follow proper parking procedures.

► Data sharing: The West Lafayette ordinance would pin permits to promises from the company to share information about origin and destination data, the total number of users and trips, average number of trips per day, total number of crashes reported each month, trends about routes and other trends, reported complaints, banned user information and the maximum number of scooters in use at any time in the previous month.

► Miscellaneous: Companies would have to “commit to no less than six educational events each year, focused on user safety.”

Where did they go?:Bird scooters disappear from West Lafayette, Purdue for the winter

Scooter troubles:West Lafayette resorts to towing as promises fall flat near Purdue

In Lafayette:After cease and desist, Lafayette invites 3 companies back to downtown

BIRD’S REACTION

Bird Rides, based in Santa Monica, California, responded to questions about specifics about the proposed West Lafayette ordinance with a statement through a public relations firm: "Bird remains committed to serving the Lafayette and West Lafayette communities with our convenient and affordable service. We hope to work collaboratively with city officials to develop a framework that works for everyone so that together we can help reduce traffic and carbon emissions in the area." -

THE LATEST ON BIRD IN WEST LAFAYETTE

Bird pulled most of its scooters from West Lafayette streets at Christmas, a week after Purdue students left for three weeks of winter break. That also came a little more than a week after West Lafayette police began calling local towing companies to haul off dockless scooters left in the middle of sidewalks or on private property.

As of Wednesday, the West Lafayette Village and Levee areas, teeming with hundreds of scooters during finals week at Purdue, were all but devoid of the devices. Purdue’s spring semester begins Jan. 7. Bird officials said in December that the scooters – available for a $1 initial fee, plus 20 cents per minute – would return at some point.

IN LAFAYETTE

Margy Deverall, Lafayette’s bike/pedestrian/mobility coordinator, said Lafayette has a similar ordinance in the works. She said it wouldn’t go to the city council until February, at the earliest.

“We have some work to do,” Deverall said.

Meanwhile, Lafayette, which had sent Bird a cease-and-desist letter in October, is rolling out a pilot program that will allow three companies – Bird; Spin, based in San Francisco; and Blue Duck, based in San Antonio – to put up to 200 scooters on the city’s streets, starting in January. Each of those would have to sign formal agreements and provide proof of insurance before getting city permission.

IF YOU GO

► The West Lafayette City Council will hold a work session at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at city hall, now at the former Happy Hollow Elementary School, 1200 N. Salisbury St. (West Lafayette moved its operations to Happy Hollow in December as renovation work begins to convert the Morton Community Center into a new city hall.)

► The city council formally will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the makeshift city hall, 1200 N. Salisbury St.

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.