D.C. may ban overnight rides on shared electric scooters

A recently proposed bill may put the breaks on the steady growth of electric scooters in the District. As introduced, the bill would prohibit people from riding shared electric scooters between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. each night and compel scooter companies to remove illegally parked scooters—including those blocking sidewalks, driveways, and handicap-accessible ramps—within three hours of hearing any complaints via newly required 24-hour hotlines.

It would also cap the total number of shared electric scooters permitted in the city sans D.C. Council approval to 15,000. And it would enact speed limits for electric scooters, based on whether they are being used on the road or the sidewalk: 15 mph in the former case (this is above the current 10 mph speed limit under a city pilot program) and 6 mph in the latter. A variety of other provisions are involved in the legislation, such as fines following consistent complaints and a mandate for firms to provide their scooters across the city by 6 a.m. daily.

Shared electric bikes would also be regulated under the bill. Electric-bike providers would have to offer their bikes across the city too, and the speed limit for them would be 20 mph.

Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, who chairs the Council’s committee on transportation and the environment, floated the bill. (Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau, Ward 2’s Jack Evans, and Ward 6’s Charles Allen were co-introducers.) Describing it as “comprehensive,” she said it was “an attempt to regulate ... electric-scooter and -bike operations” in D.C. As committee chair, she can decide when to hold a public hearing on the proposal and how to advance it.

“The bill ... aims to strengthen the rules that we have, and to add others, as well as ensuring that electric scooter and bike companies do their part to keep the streets and sidewalks safe for all individuals,” Cheh said during the Council’s meeting on June 25. She said the devices have benefits, like helping to reduce congestion and giving people affordable transportation options, but also costs: they can obstruct public rights of way and lead to pedestrian injuries.

D.C. has allowed shared electric scooters and bikes on city streets since 2017, with roughly 5,000 devices now permitted. More could be on the way, as District transportation officials are considering giving out additional permits for providers of so-called “dockless vehicles.”

Cheh’s legislation received early criticism on social media, with several commenters noting that the city should promote alternative forms of mobility and that it does not regulate cars stringently enough. But in a series of tweets later on, Cheh suggested she is open to changes.

Another councilmember who co-introduced Cheh’s bill, Charles Allen, tweeted that he does not support the proposed overnight ban on e-scooters, but favors “several other” provisions.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the District’s congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton, wrote in a June 25 letter to the head of the U.S. Capitol Police that the vehicles should be allowed on the Capitol Grounds via “narrowly tailored regulations to protect public safety.”