CHAPTER
. - STAND-UP FOOT SCOOTER
I. Policy Statement and Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish rules and regulations governing the operation of Stand-up foot scooters sharing systems within the City of Chicago and to ensure that such mobility sharing systems are consistent with the safety and well-being of bicyclists, pedestrians, and other users of the public rights-of-way.
II. Scope
This policy applies to any proposed deployment of Stand-up foot scooter sharing systems within the City of Chicago's jurisdictional boundaries.
Procedures
Any person seeking to operate a Stand-up foot scooter share program within the City of Chicago shall first obtain an Electric Scooter Share License from the City of Chicago conditioned on compliance with the Operating Regulations contained in this policy and any other conditions (including insurance, indemnity, and performance bond) established by the issuing official. No person shall operate a Stand-up foot scooter sharing program within the City of Chicago except pursuant to such License. The Electric Scooter Share License shall cost $#### and also require a $#### per year renewal fee.
Within sixty days after the effective date of this Ordinance, the City Chicago Business Affairs and Consumer Protection in consultation with the City of Chicago Department of Transportation, shall establish Operating Regulations governing the operation of Stand-up foot scooter sharing systems. All Licensees shall be required to comply with these regulations as they may be amended from time to time.
iii. Upon effectiveness of this Ordinance, all Licensee Applicants who have obtained a City of Chicago Limited Business License, provide an affidavit of compliance per the rules in this Ordinance, and provide appropriate indemnification shall be granted a Temporary Electric Scooter Share License until the Operating Regulations are formally promulgated.
Operating Regulations
i. Stand-up foot scooters shall mean a device with no more than two ten-inch or smaller diameter wheels that has handlebars, is designed to be stood upon by the operator, and is powered by an electric motor that is capable of propelling the device with or without human propulsion at a speed no more than twenty miles per hour on a paved level surface.
Licensees shall provide easily visible contact information, including toll-free phone number, e-mail address, and uniform resource locator (URL) on each Stand-up foot scooter for members of the public to make relocation requests or to report other issues with devices.
Licensees shall have a minimum fleet of 100 Stand-up foot scooters. Operators shall meet this fleet size within four weeks of License approval by the City of Chicago. Licensee applicants shall include the proposed fleet size in their application. Licensees shall provide the City of Chicago with two weeks' notice of any plans to change their fleet size below the minimum and shall comply with any updated License conditions prior to implementing the change. The City of Chicago shall allow Licensees to increase their fleet size on a monthly basis in the event that Licensees provide data that demonstrates that their fleet provides on average more than three rides per Stand-up foot scooter per day. The City of Chicago may be permitted to require Licensees to reduce their fleet size on a monthly basis in the event that Licensees provide data that demonstrates that their fleet provides on average less than one rider per Stand-up foot scooter per day.
The City of Chicago reserves the right to revoke a license for good cause after providing licensees with a 30 day notice of said revocation and after providing licensees a right for a public hearing. Upon completion of the aforementioned, the City of Chicago can require that a licensee's fleet of Stand-up foot scooters be removed from the City of Chicago right-of-way within 30 days.
a. Parking
i. For Stand-up foot scooter sharing systems, devices shall be parked upright on hard surfaces in
the furniture zone of the sidewalk, beside a bicycle rack, or in another area specifically
designated for bicycle parking.
Stand-up foot scooters shall not be parked in such a manner as to block the pedestrian clear zone area of the sidewalk; any fire hydrant, call box, or other emergency facility; bus bench; or utility pole or box.
Stand-up foot scooters shall not be parked in such a manner as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of any commercial window display or access to or from any building.
Stand-up foot scooters shall not be parked in such a manner as to impede or interfere with the reasonable use of any bicycle rack or news rack.
Stand-up foot scooters may be parked in on-street parking spaces in the following circumstances:
When marked parking spaces are officially designated stations for the Stand-up foot scooter program in business districts;
Where the furniture zone is less than three feet wide;
Where there is no furniture zone;
In neighborhoods with rolled curbs, or with inadequate sidewalk space;
5. In marked parking spaces designated for motorcycles.
Stand-up foot scooters may be parked on blocks without sidewalks only if the travel lane(s) and 6-foot pedestrian clear zone are not impeded.
Stand-up foot scooters shall not be parked in the landscape/furniture zone adjacent to or within:
Transit zones, including bus stops, shelters, passenger waiting areas and bus layover and staging zones, except at existing bicycle racks;
Loading zones;
Disabled parking zone;
Street furniture that requires pedestrian access (for example - benches, parking pay stations, bus shelters, transit information signs, etc.);
Curb ramps;
Entry ways; and
Driveways.
x. To the extent a licensee desires to park Stand-up foot scooters in areas other than the public right-of-way (e.g. parks, plazas, parking lots, private property, or transit stations), the licensee must first obtain the right to do so from the appropriate City of Chicago department, property owner, or public agency and shall communicate this right to users through signage approved by the respective entity and/or through a mobile or web application.
b. Operations
Licensees shall maintain a 24-hour customer service phone number for customers to report safety concerns, complaints, or to ask questions.
Licensee will implement a marketing and targeted community outreach plan at its own cost or pay an in-lieu fee to the City of Chicago to provide these services and promote the use of Stand-up foot scooter sharing citywide, particularly among low-income communities.
Licensee will maintain a multilingual website with languages determined by the City of Chicago, call center, and mobile App customer interface that is available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The aforementioned shall be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).
In the event a safety or maintenance issue is reported for a specific device, that Stand-up foot scooter shall be made unavailable to users and shall be removed within the timeframes provided herein. Any inoperable or unsafe device shall be repaired before it is put back into service.
At the beginning of each business day, there shall not be more than fifty percent (50%) of a licensee's Stand-up foot scooters located in the Downtown business districts. Licensees shall provide City of Chicago staff with a direct contact to a representative who is capable of rebalancing the locations of Stand-up foot scooters within the City of Chicago.
Licensees shall respond to requests for rebalancing, reports of incorrectly parked Stand-up foot scooters, or reports of unsafe/inoperable Stand-up foot scooters by relocating, re-parking, or removing the Stand-up foot scooters, as appropriate, within the following timeframes:
From 6:00 am to 6:00 pm on weekdays, not including holidays: within 18 hours of receiving notice,
All other times: within 24 hours of receiving notice.
In the event a Stand-up foot scooter is not relocated, re-parked, or removed within the timeframes specified herein, or an Stand-up foot scooter is parked in one location for more than 72 hours without moving, such Stand-up foot scooters may be removed by City of Chicago crews and taken to a City of Chicago facility for storage at the expense of the licensee.
Licensees shall work with local businesses or other organizations to promote the use of helmets by system users through partnerships, promotional credits, and other incentives.
Stand-up foot scooters are to be ridden on streets, and where available, in bike lanes and bike paths. Stand-up foot scooters are to stay to the right of street lanes and to offer the right of way to bicycles in bike lanes and on bike paths. Helmets are encouraged for all users and required for minors (to the extent minors are permitted as users).
xii. Licensees shall provide notice to all users by means of signage and through a mobile or web
application that:
Stand-up foot scooters are to be ridden on streets, and where available, in bike lanes and bike paths;
Stand-up foot scooters are to stay to the right of street lanes and to offer the right of way to bicycles on bike lanes and bike paths;
Helmets are encouraged for all users and required for minors (to the extent minors are permitted as users;
Parking must be done in the designated areas; and
Riding responsibly is encouraged.
c. Data Sharing
i. Licensees shall provide the City of Chicago with real-time information on the entire City of Chicago fleet through a documented application program interface (API). Licensees are
directly responsible for obtaining an API key from the City's Transportation Division to which they will publish the data described below. The data to be published to the City of Chicago API will include the following information for every Stand-up foot scooter parked in the City of Chicago operational area:
Point location
Stand-up foot scooters identification number
Type of Stand-up foot scooters (standard or electric)
Fuel level (if electric)
The City of Chicago is permitted to display real-time data provided via the API and may publish real-time Stand-up foot scooter availability data to the public.
All Licensees shall provide the following anonymized data for each trip record to inform and support safe and effective management of the Stand-up foot scooter share system, and for transportation planning efforts. Data will be submitted to the City Chicago via an API to be distributed by the City's Transportation Division.
Field name Format Description
Company Name [company name] n/a
Type of Stand-up Foot Electric n/a
Scooters
Trip record number xxxOOOl, xxx0002, 3-letter company acronym
xxx0003, ... + consecutive trip #
Trip duration MM:SS n/a
Trip distance Feet n/a
Start date MM, DD, YYYY n/a
Start time HH:MM:SS (00:00:00 - n/a
End date MM, DD, YYYY n/a
End time HH:MM:SS (00:00:00 - n/a
Start location Census block n/a
End location Census block n/a
Stand-up Foot Scooters ID xxxxl, xxxx2, ... Unique identifier for every
number Stand-up Foot Scooters,
must be reported using these seven age groups: under 16-17, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65 and over.
d. Infrastructure Funding
i. Licensees shall pay the City of Chicago an infrastructure, public property repair and maintenance endowment of $1 per vehicle per day. The endowment described herein is to ensure adequate funds are available to reimburse the City of Chicago for future public property repair and maintenance costs that may be incurred, including but not limited to any costs of repairing or
Alderman, 1st ward
maintaining damaged public property by the Licensees or its customers, removing and storing Stand-up foot scooters improperly parked or left unattended on public property, and addressing and abating any other violations. The $1 per vehicle per day endowment shall be paid with the first payment due at the time of license issuance. Payments shall be made on a quarterly basis thereafter.