A cluster of electric rental bikes near Monument Circle in Indianapolis (Tyler Lake, WTIU/WFIU News)
It’s becoming more common to see someone riding an electric scooter in some Indiana cities or to find one in the middle of the sidewalk.The popularity of the shared scooters has communities across the state grappling with whether to regulate the services.
Indiana was not prepared for the flurry of scooter rental services that rolled into some communities this year.
The city of Bloomington’s Director of Public Engagement, Yael Ksander had no idea Bird was bringing scooters to the community until they showed up.
“We were surprised too, we had spoken to bird as you may have heard, back earlier in the summer and we were going to be coordinating with them however that not their business model,” Ksander says. “They tend to be disrupters and they dropped the scooters without warning us.”
Despite that, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton doesn’t plan to pass any ordinances regulating the scooters. In fact, they’re happy to have them here.
“One, it's good to be a community that a company like this wants to come,” Hamilton says. “Two, the bottom line is any basic things we can do to help people move around that doesn't depend on big passenger automobiles, is a good thing.”
But officials at Indiana University don’t think the new mode of transportation should go unchecked. The university is adding new rules to regulate electric scooters across all of its nine campuses.
University Spokesperson Chuck Carney says the language addresses the problem of scooters being left in places that could block access.
“The birds scooters should be parked somewhere on or near a bike rack, so that’s a new part of the policy and that’s of course to eliminate having the scooters just every place on campus,” Carney says.
IU officials also now require someone who collides with a pedestrian while on a scooter to exchange information with that person. In the case of an injury resulting from a collision, the new rules require the rider to notify the IU Police Department.
City officials in Indianapolis are taking a similar approach. When the scooters showed up earlier this summer, Indy put a moratorium on their use, until they drafted rules governing their use.
They’re similar to policies that were already on the books in Bloomington, which prohibit people from riding scooters or bikes on sidewalks.
Indianapolis is getting more aggressive with the enforcement of these scooters, you have to ride them out on the street and it could be 20 dollar fine if you are caught riding them on sidewalks or city trails.
And while the rules are relatively new, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson, Sergeant Jim Gillespie says they have tried to get the word out about the new laws, and they are already noticing a difference.
“I think we have seen a change of going more toward that proper riding, again that’s due ot the educational portion,” Gillespie says.
