15 mph
Electric-assisted devices cannot provide assistance beyond 15 miles per hour
Operating Area Types:
The vendor shall designate a service area for each device it deploys in the City of Seattle. The vendor may include locations outside the City in a device’s service area.
If the vendor has not deployed a fleet of more than 2,500 devices under this permit as measured in Requirement CE5.1, then each device’s service area shall include the entire City of Seattle, except locations the Program Manager designates as no parking zones. If the vendor has deployed a fleet of more than 2,500 devices on at least one day as measured in Requirement CE5.1, then for the duration of the permit each device’s service area shall include the entire City of Seattle.
The vendor shall distribute no less than 10% of its deployed fleet within the designated Equity Focus Areas.
Permitted: in the landscaping/furniture zone of sidewalks (the part of the sidewalk with trees, poles, and other fixtures); ensure space is more than three feet wide, or park the bike at a public bike rack; Leave at least six feet clear for pedestrians to pass.
Do not park on corners, driveways, or curb ramps.
Do not block access to buildings, benches, parking pay stations, bus stops, hydrants, etc.
Park the bike upright.
ISO 4210
ISO 4210 Code of Federal Regulations (“Requirements for Bicycles,” at 16 CFR § 1512) and by the International Organization for Standardization (“CyclesMaximum fleet permitted within jurisdiction: 20,000
Maximum fleet permitted per provider: 5,000
If we award four permits at the start of the program, each vendor can have up to 5,000 devices deployed in Seattle at a time. SDOT may reduce a vendor’s fleet size for noncompliance
and increase it if things are going well. We ask vendors to keep a minimum fleet size—4,000 at first.
| Type | Amount | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Application | USD$ 224 | |
| Per Vehicle | USD$ 50 | Annually |
| Operating Permit | USD$ 250,000 | Annually |
If four vendors are granted permits during the initial permit application period: $250,000 annually per vendor.
If three or fewer vendors are granted permits during the initial permit application period: $50 per permitted bicycle or other device, prorated by month.
If additional vendors are granted permits after the initial permit application period: $250,000 per vendor, prorated by month, if the vendor deploys 5,000 or more bicycles or other devices; $50 per permitted device, prorated by month, if the vendor deploys fewer than 5,000 bicycles or other devices
Payment Method Requirements:
The vendor shall establish at least one method by which a rider who has no smartphone, no bank account, and no charge card can rent a device
Fare Regulation:
Before the rider rents a device, the vendor shall disclose to the rider its pricing structure, including all rates, fees, surcharges, penalties, and other costs the rider may incur by renting the device.
If 50% or more of the vendor’s deployed fleet consists of electric-assisted devices, then for the duration of the permit the vendor shall establish a reduced-fare program element. At a minimum, all persons who qualify for the ORCA Lift reduced-fare program or the Regional Reduced Fare Permit (RRFP) program shall be eligible for the vendor’s reduced-fare program element. Unless the vendor proposes and the Program Manager approves a different price structure, the vendor shall charge eligible riders no more than $1.50 per hour.
Connection to Other Government Goals:
SDOT’s New Mobility Playbook describes our goals and strategies for adapting emerging mobility services to the needs of our city. Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative and SDOT’s Transportation Equity Program provide further goals and guidance for SDOT’s efforts to provide safe, affordable, accessible, and environmentally sustainable transportation options for cost-burdened communities.
In addition to our general goals, SDOT had seven goals for the Program during the pilot:
1. support an active, healthy, people-first use of Seattle’s streets;
2. ensure affordable and equitable service—particularly for cost-burdened communities of color—while expanding access to opportunities;
3. fill mobility gaps and improve connections to transit;
4. be safe and advance our Vision Zero objectives;
5. provide a low-carbon mobility option as part of Seattle’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions;
6. manage public space to ensure sidewalks are organized and free from obstructions;
7. derive insights into how people use the system, compliance issues, and targeted bike infrastructure investments with robust data partnerships; and
8. make Seattle a world leader in diverse cycling by increasing access to adaptive cycles as a recreation and mobility option.
Government Parking Requirement:
To accommodate up to 20,000 more bikes in the public right-of-way, SDOT is committing to a 15-20% increase in citywide bike parking spaces in 2019.
The Program Manager may designate locations in SDOT right of-way where vendors and riders may park devices. The Program Manager may designate block faces or other locations in the City where devices shall not be parked (“no parking zones”) or where other parking restrictions apply. The vendor shall mark or geofence special parking zone locations in its smartphone application upon the Program Manager’s request.
A portion of each vendor’s permit fees will fund a designated parking area program, the SDOT bike rack or corral
Equity Requirements:
The vendor shall collaborate with SDOT and participate in outreach, education, and other equity programming designed to improve knowledge of and access to mobility and recreation options in the City of Seattle.
The vendor shall distribute no less than 10% of its deployed fleet within the designated Equity Focus Areas.
Required: Equity Plan that describes how the vendor will ensure its services are affordable, accessible, equitably distributed, equitably managed, and engaged with Seattle’s diverse communities; how the vendor’s services, including operations and marketing, will reach all people in the City of Seattle, with a focus on communities of color, low income communities, immigrant and refugee communities, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, people with limited English-language proficiency, LGBTQ people, women and girls, youth, and seniors.
If the vendor deploys one or more approved adaptive cycles, the Program Manager will increase the vendor’s maximum fleet size by two additional devices for each approved adaptive cycle deployed in the City up to a maximum of 1,000 additional devices if the vendor deploys 500 adaptive cycles.
The vendor shall disclose to each rider at least once during the permit term the types of data it collects from riders and devices and the types of data the vendor reports to others.
The vendor shall affix informational signage approved by the Program Manager to each device that the vendor newly deploys on SDOT right-of-way on or after January 1, 2019. The vendor shall affix the signage to the device’s front cargo basket or another location approved by the Program Manager.
(b) The rider education signage on each device shall include a statement that the law requires the rider to wear a helmet.
(c) The vendor’s rider education signage program element shall include content that addresses the following education topics:
1. yield to pedestrians;
2. follow traffic rules;
3. report maintenance problems to vendor; and
4. park responsibly.
The vendor shall provide the following contact methods for public use:
1. a local or toll-free telephone number that connects to a live person or allows the caller to leave a message;
2. a contact number capable of receiving and responding to text messages; and
3. an email address.
Before the rider rents a device, the vendor shall disclose to the rider its pricing structure, including all rates, fees, surcharges, penalties, and other costs the rider may incur by renting the device
Beginning March 1, 2019, for all required contact methods the vendor provides under Requirement O3.1(a) and all required disclosures to riders under Requirements O4.1 and DS6, the vendor shall offer a translated version or translation support for all City of Seattle Tier 1 Languages, including Cantonese (written: Traditional Chinese), Korean, Mandarin (written: Simplified Chinese), Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. SDOT encourages the vendor to offer translated versions or translation support for all public contact methods, including any smartphone applications, in City of Seattle Tier 1 and Tier 2 Languages and other languages spoken in Seattle.
The vendor shall collaborate with SDOT and participate in outreach, education, and other equity programming designed to improve knowledge of and access to mobility and recreation options in the City of Seattle
Data Specification Requirements:
GPS Required? Yes
Data Requirements:
Required reports: each device’s status and location at the following times:
1. when the vendor deploys and parks the device;
2. when the vendor removes the device to its physical custody, including removal with the intent to redeploy the device in another location; and
3. for the duration of deployment at the following frequency: i. not less than once every four hours, if the device or device tracking component is newly deployed before March 1, 2019; or ii. not less than once every 30 minutes, if the device or device tracking component is newly deployed on or after March 1, 2019.
Also: trip data, device status, Parking Report Data Maintenance Data, Incident Report Log, year-end report.
The vendor shall submit deployed-device data in real time. The vendor shall collect and submit data on each trip that begins or ends in the City of Seattle or within 1000 feet of city boundaries.
Public data reporting:
SDOT Bikeshare Homepage includes "Data Dashboard" section with live data
Public data reporting URL: See data reporting website