Scooter Sharing Pilot Program, Arlington County, Virgina, 2018

The Arlington County Board, in response to the recommendation of its Transportation Commission, authorized a “Shared Mobility Devices Demonstration (“SMD”) Project.” While it covers both dockless bikes (including e-bikes) and dockless scooters, it appeared soon after the arrival of scooters.  Per the “the proposed demonstration would run for nine months, from roughly October 1, 2018 until June 30, 2019.”

The board will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with participting companies along the following terms (outlined in the attached “Report 25.”). The permitting process will follow this scheme, as also outlined in the attached document. The item that prompted the most discussion, per the attached Public Letter, was the desired fleet size allotment per-provider.

Components of MOU/permitting process:

1. Up-front payment of a one-time demonstration permit fee of $8,000 per mode per company, regardless of fleet size.

2. An initial fleet cap of 200 devices per mode per company in Arlington at any one time, with permission to request a performance-based increase of 50 devices per month up to 350 per mode per company upon demonstration of unmet demand (previous month’s data must meet a minimum average of six (6) trips being taken per device per day) and fullcompliance with regulations as described in the MOA.

3. Required safety features for all devices consistent with state regulations and standard practice for the Capital Bikeshare system.

4. Electric scooters to be held to a speed limit of 10 mph, and electric-assist bikes to a speed limit of 15 mph.

5. Minimum age of sixteen (16) for riders of electric scooters and electric-assist bikes.

6. Minimum required contact information and operations management from each company.

7. Requirement that companies must convey Arlington device parking and use regulations to all users and require users to abide by those regulations.

8. Commitment to respond to customer and community complaints/issues in a timely fashion.

9. Provision of at minimum monthly data to the County for staff analysis.

The other linked sites include a Curbed article and Arlington County’s clearinghouse page.

Updated September 2018