Title
Downtown Shared Electric Scooter Pilot Program Extension Update
Description
This report provides the Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee with an update of the Downtown Shared Electric Scooter Pilot Program six-month extension.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
On June 26, 2019, City Council unanimously approved the Downtown Shared Electric Scooter (e-Scooter) Pilot Program (Pilot Program), which allowed electric scooter vendors to obtain a permit to operate within the City of Phoenix. As part of the Pilot Program, City Council approved Ordinance G-6602, amending the Phoenix City Code to allow eScooters to operate on public streets. The Ordinance amendment also included definitions for an electric standup scooter and authorized the City of Phoenix Police Department or peace officers to issue civil traffic citations for, among other things, speed limit violations, yielding the right-of-way, parking violations, and riding on the sidewalk. Additionally, the Ordinance amendment included a one-year sunset provision, which would effectively repeal the Code changes on June 25, 2020, one year from the Ordinance effective date of June 26, 2019.
The City of Phoenix issued permits to three vendors (Bird, Lime, and Spin) to deploy eScooters as part of a six-month Pilot Program. The Pilot Program began on Sept. 16, 2019. During the pilot, staff collected performance data, which included fleet information, ridership, violations, program fees and revenues, public and stakeholder comments, and general observations to assess user demand. Staff also monitored vendor operations and evaluated the impacts to the City.
On Jan. 7, 2020, the Street Transportation Department (Streets) presented a three-month update on the Pilot Program to the Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee. Based on the preliminary results of the Pilot Program, on Feb. 19, 2020, City Council approved the extension of the Pilot Program for an additional six months and to-reopen the permit application process to allow new vendors to apply for the Pilot Program (G-6676). City Council also amended Ordinance G-6602 to extend the sunset provision for an additional six months.
Staff contacted potential e-Scooter companies beginning March 2020 to apply for the extended pilot program. Two vendors, Razor and Spin, expressed interest and submitted permit applications for the extension program. The City intended to seamlessly begin the six-month extension at the end of the first six-month pilot on March 16, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the eScooter vendors were reluctant to deploy scooters at that time. Staff decided to delay the start of the extended Pilot Program and resume at a later date. The City has issued permits to both Razor and Spin. The second phase of the extended Downtown Shared Electric Scooter Pilot Program started on Oct. 1, 2020, and is scheduled to end on March 31, 2021.
This update represents the first three months of the second phase of the Pilot Program (October through December 2020).
Fleet Information
Razor has a maximum of 300 scooters that may be deployed, and their average daily deployment for December was approximately 90 scooters. Spin has a maximum of 900 scooters that may be deployed, and their average daily deployment for December was approximately 170 scooters. While the vendors' deployments are less than the previous phase of the Pilot Program, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of scooters deployed has been greater than anticipated. The maximum number of allowable scooters is subject to review and adjustment by the Street Transportation Department Director.
Ridership
As part of the Pilot Program, vendors were required to provide monthly data on ridership, including the number of daily trips, average ride time, distance, and number of scooters deployed. The information reflected below is ridership data for the two current vendors combined over the first three months of the program extension.
- Total trips: 13,695
- Average trips per week: 1,500 trips per week
- Average trips per day: approximately 457 trips per day
- Average trip duration: approximately 14 minutes
Violations
Under the vendor permits, the City charges vendors an $80 relocation fee for violating parking requirements. The vendors are only authorized to operate scooters from designated parking locations each day during the hours of 5:00 a.m. and midnight. While initially required to pick up their scooters by midnight each day, the City removed this requirement in January 2020 and now allows the vendors to leave scooters at authorized designated parking locations overnight. The vendors are also required to relocate improperly parked scooters to an authorized parking location within two hours of being notified. If the vendors do not relocate improperly parked scooters within the two hours, the City contractor relocates them to a designated parking location and the vendor is charged an $80 fee.
The City contracts with a scooter retrieval company, SWEEP, to monitor, report, and correct any vendor violations and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. SWEEP has stated that the level of violations for the Phoenix program is well below those of other municipalities they serve and provided the following violation data to the City. At the end of the first three-month period, there have been a total of 86 violations between the two vendors (Razor - 44 scooters and Spin - 42 scooters).
Program Fees and Revenue
As with the first phase of the Pilot Program, each vendor is required to pay a $500 application fee and a $5,000 permit fee to participate in the Pilot Program extension. In total, the City collected $11,000 in application and permit fees during the Pilot Program extension. In addition, vendors are invoiced monthly for a $0.10 surcharge fee per trip, and for any violation at the rate of $80 per scooter. Staff will provide a revenue summary at the end of the six-month extension period.
Public Information and Community Outreach
Staff created and maintains a dedicated email account, phone number, and webpage for this Pilot Program. Staff frequently corresponds with internal and downtown stakeholders to provide updates and address any concerns.
Observations
As during the first phase of the Pilot Program, there are still challenges associated with the limitations on accuracy of the Global Positioning System (GPS) used by the e-Scooter companies to identify and regulate parking locations, No Ride Zones, and program boundaries. This can be frustrating for riders as it can negatively impact their trips, residents may find scooters outside of designated scooter parking areas, and vendors are trying to comply with the program regulations.
Another challenge has been the many construction zones currently present within the Pilot Program boundary, which presents concerns for riders, vendors, and construction contractors. Both Razor and Spin have been responsive in addressing improperly parked scooters and adjusting to the construction activities.
To date, staff has received no reports of scooter-related incidents that involved the rider being injured within this three-month period. Generally, feedback from both the public and downtown stakeholders has been favorable.
Location
The main boundary of the Pilot Program is from 7th Avenue to 7th Street and from Buckeye to McDowell Roads. The Pilot Program boundary includes an extension of the area bounded by Roosevelt Street and Grand Avenue, and a reduction of the northern boundary to Portland Street between 7th and Central Avenues.
Council Districts: 4, 7 and 8
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Street Transportation Department.