(From left) Bloomington County Council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith and Economic and Sustainable Development Director Alex Crowley
Mayor John Hamilton’s administration wants to implement several new e-scooters regulations before the end of the year to curb accidents and injuries and penalize improper parking.
Members of Bloomington City Council heard a slew of recommendations Wednesday from representatives of the city’s planning and economic and sustainable development departments. Included in the city’s recommendations are a change in the scooters’ hours of operation and fines for riders who park a scooter in the public right of way.
Economic and Sustainable Development Director Alex Crowley said the recommendations were spurred in part by the September 2022 death of Indiana University freshman Nathanial Stratton, who was riding an e-scooter when he was struck by a suspected drunken driver.
“Ongoing parking challenges continue to plague the community, causing issues with accessibility and the public right of way, and more broadly, a general sense that scooters are negatively impacting the aesthetics of the community,” Crowley said. “While certainly not rising to the severity of the fatalities and injuries, they impact many residents and in particular those depending upon accessibility and the right of way.”
Included in the city’s recommendations are restricting the hours of operation for stand-up e-scooters, enforcing a minimum number of sit-down scooters in each fleet, creating designated parking corrals and fining operators for improperly parked vehicles.
The city aims to restrict riders’ ability to use stand-up e-scooters between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. April through October, then from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. November through March. Those restrictions would not apply for bikes and sit-down scooters.
Also suggested by the mayor’s administration are implementing semi-annual educational quizzes for riders, ensuring all helmets given out by operators adhere to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards, and capping vehicle fleets, along with introducing more pedestrian protections.
Representatives of Indiana Univeristy's administration played a role in drafting the recommendations.
IU Vice Provost for External Relations Kirk White,White said the university wants to reduce scooter use during hours when visibility is limited.
“From our perspective, restricting the use of scooters from dusk to dawn would be even better,” White said. “These accidents that occur, particularly at intersections, are a lot of times because of reduced visibility.”
White also supported reducing the speed limit on campus and incentivizing sit-down scooters, which he called a safer alternative to stand-up scooters.
The city’s recommendations come more than two years after members of city council passed an ordinance establishing penalties for violations by riders and scooter companies.
But some city council members, including Isabel Piedmont-Smith, said the city hasn’t been enforcing that.
“To now hear you say you’re going to start fining where we wall know that there have been massive violations throughout the community does not generate much confidence in me,” Piedmont-Smith said. “I can only assume that there has been a lack of willingness on behalf of the mayor to actually enforce the laws that this council has passed, and that is unacceptable to me.”
Council member Stephen Volan felt similarly to Piedmont-Smith.
“The administration seems to be selectively enforcing laws passed by the council, and I am greatly, greatly concerned about it,” Volan said.
Crowley said Volan’s characterization of the administration was inaccurate, as the ordinance reserves the right to impose penalties but does not mandate it.
Before the recommendations can be implemented, the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Commission must vote on whether to recommend it to the board of public works. It’s scheduled to do so at its April 10 meeting.
Public works will then vote as early as April 11 on whether to formally approve the recommendations.
Crowley said the city hopes to begin implementation in mid-April and conclude by July 31.
A full summary of the city’s recommendations is available online.
