Transportation companies that deploy electric scooters and bikes in the nation’s capital are pushing back against a city plan to limit the number of providers.
The District Department of Transportation this summer notified scooter and bike operators it wants to bring back a competitive permitting process this fall that would limit to eight the number of companies authorized to rent scooters, with three of those allowed to operate both scooters and bikes.
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The District two years ago tried to reduce the number of operators to four through an application process that was criticized as flawed, and that resulted in multiple companies appealing. The city retracted the measure, then extended the existing permits. The old permits were extended again for 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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City transportation officials have said they want to bring back a permitting process that allows for greater competition in the industry and explores opportunities to expand and diversify fleets of personal mobility devices. The companies, however, want another extension, saying it would ensure services are not interrupted as the region begins to resume normal commutes and travel after 18 months of pandemic-related disruption.
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“The existing scooter operators continue to deliver essential services for District residents and employees, and a new process would eliminate some of these essential options,” scooter companies Bird, Helbiz, Lime and Lyft said in a recent letter addressed to DDOT Director Everett Lott.
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DDOT officials said they are reviewing the industry’s request. In a statement, Lott said the agency is revising the 2022 permit plan and will provide more details this fall.
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“Based on recent feedback received from industry and additional legislative requirements, DDOT is making adjustments to the plans,” he said, adding that the services are “an integral part” of the city’s vision “for a connected transportation network, especially as the region continues to reopen.”
Spin, owned by Ford, was the only scooter operator in the city that didn’t sign the letter. Spin officials did not respond to questions about whether the company has concerns about the proposed permitting process. Josh Bear, regional general manager for Spin, said in a statement the company hopes to continue to expand its D.C. operations.
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Under the plan DDOT is considering, the city would issue up to eight slots for bike providers and eight slots for scooter providers. The scooter permits, however, would be broken down into three categories: three permits for scooters, three permits for operators that also hold bike permits and two permits for nontraditional scooters, which could be adaptive devices for people with limited abilities.
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“Those with bike permits would have to qualify to operate a bike permit and the scooter permit would be contingent upon continuing to operate bicycles,” Sharada Strasmore, the city’s shared micromobility planner, told operators in a July email that indicated the application period would open soon.
Officials with some of the companies said the proposed setup for permits is confusing, while the timing is troubling for an industry that is upgrading fleets to comply with new city requirements. A new law mandating all scooters and dockless bikes be locked to racks or poles goes into effect Oct. 1.
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“This requirement required a major investment for existing operators, with hardware retrofit and installation costs, new user and staff education, and photo review requirements, all with only three months of certainty in the market,” according to the letter from the companies.
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When the locking requirement goes into effect, operators will be required to verify with post-ride pictures that scooters and bikes are adequately parked. Companies must review pictures within 24 hours and send notifications about unsatisfactory parking to riders either through the app or via email, according to instructions from the city.
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Riders in the coming weeks will receive instructions from the companies on how to use the new locking systems.
Industry officials want the city to extend current permits for a year to educate users on the new requirement and “to account for the vast uncertainty presented by the Delta variant of COVID-19,” their letter said.
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Two scooter companies, Lime and Helbiz, have permits to operate bikes. But limiting the number of operators that can operate both scooters and bikes to three could be problematic as others look to expand, some industry leaders said. Bird, one of the first scooter companies to enter the D.C. market, also operates bikes in other cities and will be looking at possibly adding a bike permit for next year, company officials said.
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Lyft manages the region’s Capital Bikeshare program. Scooter company Razor, which previously had a permit for scooters, said it has pulled out of the District.
Two other companies have recently entered the D.C. region: Veo, which operates scooters and bikes in markets across the United States, including the campus at the University of Maryland at College Park, and LINK, which operates scooters in 44 cities, including Alexandria and Baltimore.
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Before the pandemic, companies lobbied the city to raise the cap on fleet sizes as the devices became more popular. D.C. allowed incremental expansion in 2019, but growth plateaued amid a rise in telework. The city allows nearly 10,000 scooters and almost 4,000 bikes among all providers.
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It is unclear if the city will allow companies to deploy more devices in 2022.
Industry officials said if the city’s intent is to add more bike providers and bring in new devices for people with disabilities, it could expand the number of permits while continuing to allow the legacy companies to operate. The companies said they also welcome administrative changes to the program, including updates to terms and conditions and new fee structures.
“By extending the current scooter permits, the District will be taking the most administratively efficient path for execution and continuation of the program,” they wrote in their letter.