Orlando opted to
make e-scooters a permanent presence in the city yesterday, with the city council amending ordinances that created a
scootershare pilot program. Beyond making the test program permanent, the city made changes to allow for legal riding on the sidewalk.
Where before sidewalk-riding was only allowed on scooters with governors in place to keep them under 10 miles per hour, the new changes require that all scooters are governed below that speed. As such, the ordinance was updated to ban sidewalk rides only in areas with clearly visible signs prohibiting the practice.
In addition to the speed limits, the permanent ordinance established a system of penalties for operators who run afoul of the city's scooting regime. The ordinance allows for a fine of $100 per violation of "relocation timing and restaging" requirements. (That's bureaucrat-ese for spreading the scooters back out).
It also holds fleets responsible for moving the bikes indoors during inclement weather. Finally, it gives the city the authority to revoke permits of serial violators. To finance this eyes-on-the-street Scootsi, the city's fee is increasing by five cents to 30 cents a ride.
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