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Home My WebLink About2019-04-01; Traffic Safety Commission; ; SHARED MOBILITY ORDINANCEItem # 1 Meeting Date: April 1, 2019 To: Traffic Safety Commission Staff Contact: Craig Williams, Senior Engineer Craig.Williams@carlsbadca.gov or 760-826-9523 Subject: Shared Mobility Ordinance Recommended Action Information only. Background Shared mobility devices, such as dockless shared bikes and scooters, as well as some operators’ deployment methods, have presented regulatory challenges for cities. Shared mobility devices are likely to appear in the City of Carlsbad in the near future, due to vendor interest in our city and vendor deployments in nearby jurisdictions. For example, the neighboring cities of Encinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar are scheduled to launch a bike-share system through a single vendor (Gotcha) in the summer of 2019. Micromobility is a relatively recent term that refers to short (micro) trips (mobility), usually after using mass transit modes of travel. These trips are often referred to as “first mile/last mile” portions of a longer transit trip, with the idea that once you arrive at a central station, your trip is not complete until you arrive at your actual destination. Previously, these trips were commonly provided via taxis, then shared-mobility providers such as Uber or Lyft. As shared- mobility options became more prevalent through smartphone apps, less expensive options such as bike-share and even scooter-share became popular. Shared micromobility trips can often be substitutes for walking or short vehicle trips. In addition to being less expensive, bike-share and scooter-share are also appealing to cities because they minimize vehicular congestion and parking. For every bike-share or scooter-share trip, there is generally one less car trip, which is helpful in attaining the city’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) goals and to reduce congestion on city streets. However, the convenience and popularity of these new transportation modes bring issues that are new to most cities, such as where bikes and scooters can legally operate and park. Various communities are experiencing negative impacts from the use and misuse of such devices. These issues include: parking in the public right-of-way and obstructing vehicle and pedestrian access; reduced sidewalk area or parking spaces; urban clutter; aggressive competition/oversupply; use of public land for private purposes; potential public liabilities; scooter/pedestrian conflicts; scooter/vehicle conflicts; and increased demand for enforcement resources. One of the reasons for these negative impacts is because these devices have been launched in cities throughout the United States without contracts, permits or business licenses. In other words, these devices are operating without any oversight and/or regulations. Vendor Requests to Operate Several north coast cities, including Carlsbad, have encountered vendors who request permission to operate within their jurisdictions. In August 2018, a scooter-share vendor approached the City of Carlsbad to request a business license for prospective operations in the Village area. The city denied the business license, citing an existing municipal code (Carlsbad Municipal Code section 10.58.020) that prohibits skateboarding, coaster or any other similar form of transportation in the Carlsbad Village area. In a similar vein, the City of Oceanside recently encountered the same vendor who deposited scooters within their jurisdiction without permission. Discussion To address potential unregulated vendor operations, other north coast cities have adopted a shared mobility device ordinance. On Dec. 12, 2018, the City of Solana Beach approved such an ordinance. The Cities of Del Mar and Encinitas approved similar ordinances in March 2019. The proposed ordinance would prohibit shared mobility devices from being abandoned (as defined), placed for rent in the public right-of-way or other public areas, or from being placed in those areas in a manner that constitutes a public nuisance. These prohibitions would allow for adequate pedestrian traffic flow, ensure public safety and maintain public areas free of public nuisance. Device users could continue to ride or temporarily park a shared bicycle or scooter within the city’s limits in accordance with applicable laws such as the CVC. The ordinance also allows the city to impound devices that are in violation of its provisions. Under the proposed ordinance no person may: 1) display, offer or make available for rent any shared mobility device1 in the city; 2) abandon2 a shared mobility device in the public right-of-way or a public area3; or 3) Park, leave standing, leave lying, or otherwise place a shared mobility device in the public right-of-way or a public area in a manner that constitutes a public nuisance4. The above prohibitions are consistent with numerous other shared mobility device ordinances, including those of other north coast cities. Although the CVC currently allows the city to 1 “Shared Mobility Device” means any wheeled transportation device, other than an automobile or motorcycle, by which a person can be propelled, moved, or drawn; is accessed via an on-demand portal, whether a smartphone application, membership card, or similar method; is displayed, placed or offered for rent in any public area or public right-of-way by an operator for shared use by members of the public; and is available to members of the public in unstaffed, self-service locations. 2 “Abandon” means leaving a shared mobility device unattended in the public right-of-way or a public area upon termination of a shared mobility device rental use. 3 “Public area” means any outdoor area that is open to the members of the public for public use, whether owned or operated by the city or a private party. 4 “Public nuisance” means any condition caused, maintained or permitted to exist which constitutes a threat to the public’s health, safety and welfare or which significantly obstructs, injures or interferes with the reasonable or free use of property in a neighborhood, community or to any considerable number of persons. Public nuisance includes, but is not limited to, obstructing travel upon or blocking access to a public right-of-way and posing an imminent life safety hazard. impound devices in certain circumstances, the proposed ordinance includes additional enforcement tools. These include a potential impound fee, extending enforcement to public areas outside the public right-of-way, and regulating abandoned devices or devices-for-rent that are parked legally. Devices that are in violation of the ordinance may be impounded either upon 72-hour written notice to the operator or immediately without notice if an imminent life safety hazard exists.5 The impounded devices would be held for pickup by the applicable operator after payment of an established impound fee. Although city staff are not currently prepared to propose an impound fee, they may do so at a future time. In addition to impounding the devices, city staff may enforce the ordinance under other provisions of the Carlsbad Municipal Code (Chapter 1.08 and Chapter 1.10 for criminal and administrative enforcement remedies, respectively). Unlike the proposed ordinance, the ordinances adopted in Del Mar, Solana Beach and Encinitas also permitted negotiated bikeshare pilot programs. City staff will present shared micromobility program options separately for the City Council’s consideration and direction. Those program options may involve future Carlsbad Municipal Code amendments to allow one or multiple vendors to operate in the city. Necessary Council Action A Shared Mobility Ordinance is scheduled for presentation to City Council on Apr. 23, 2019. Next Steps Report back to Traffic Safety Commission on City Council discussion on the Shared Mobility Ordinance. Exhibits None 5 CMC section 10.56.040 currently permits the police department to remove bicycles ridden on any sidewalk, public drainage facility, culvert, ditch, or channel, public athletic/sports courts, or gymnasiums in the city.