At the August 19, 2021 BPAC meeting, Kerby Olsen, OakDOT New Mobility Supervisor, led a discussion of proposed changes to E-scooter parking rules. Representatives from shared E-scooter operators in Oakland were also in attendance.
Amy Falkenstein, Operations Manager at Lime, gave a presentation on the E-scooter locking policy change proposal. The full presentation is below.
“Once we launch, Lime plans to work directly with the City to focus daily deployment and rebalancing of our scooters to ensure that at least 50% of our fleet is located in Communities of Concern. Our goal is to ensure that we truly are serving all of Oakland in an equitable, sustainable, and demand-responsive manner.”
Increasing Capacity at Bike Racks
- Adding a 2nd scooter only adds ~6 inches to the total footprint
- Will allow for parking of private bicycles while not impeding walkways
Oakland Bike Rack Distribution
- Total of 3,500 bike racks throughout the City with a majority concentrated in Downtown Oakland, little overlap with CoC
- Given bike rack distribution, there are not enough bike racks to achieve the 50%+ CoC deployment target with four different providers
- Need +1,000 bike racks distributed across equity regions to ensure CoC distribution compliance
Oakland BPAC Blog 
I don’t understand what proposal was actually made, based on these materials. Is it basically for Lime to not be held to the current “scooters must be locked to something” rule, instead committing to keep them out of the way by other means, so they can expand to parts of town without enough many bike racks for that?
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Hi John,
Copying from the meeting minutes that were just approved:
“Current rules stipulate that e‐scooters must be locked to an object to reduce the prevalence of e‐scooters blocking sidewalks and ending up in Lake Merritt (for example). The current rules also stipulate that no more than one e‐scooter can be parked to one bike rack, leaving the other side of the rack for people to lock their bikes. The e‐scooter operators are proposing that two e‐scooters be allowed to be locked to one side of a single bike rack.”
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In a crowded area, look for a stable bike rack. Since no burglar wants to be seen taking an electric scooter, parking and locking your car in a crowded area will reduce the likelihood that it will be taken. Avoid leaving your electric scooter parked in a remote location where thieves may easily pick the lock on it or get around it.
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