By Callan Smith | Rose Law Group Reporter
Anyone who visits or works at the Southbridge area of Old Town Scottsdale has seen the multitude of bikes and scooters in the area with sharing services like Lime, Razor and Bird, becoming popular of late. Vehicle parking in the area can be a challenge, so these two-wheeled options seem to the be a way to get around until people are through with them. There-in lies the challenge.
Sometimes they’re left in the oddest of places, such as bikes being stacked up on grates, or left haphazardly about blocking sidewalks or leaned up against sign poles. The City of Scottsdale has taken up the problem with changes to the bike and scooter ordinance that went into effect in December.
While the changes should certainly assist property owners and pedestrians with the problems of discarded bikes and the like, they will also affect individuals riding or using bicycles, electric bicycles, motorized bicycles motorized skateboards, motorized play vehicles, and stand-up electric mini-scooters.
For all our riding readers, here are some rules to follow from the City:
“Keep sidewalks open for pedestrians: Do not park devices on public sidewalks in areas that obstruct the portion used primarily by pedestrians.
The owner is required to keep devices properly parked: The owner – whether an individual or a company – is responsible for making sure their devices are parked properly. Devices should be parked in racks or designated parking areas.
Devices should be operable and used: The ordinance makes it illegal for devices to remain at the same location on public property for more than 72 consecutive hours. Improperly parked, inoperable or abandoned devices may be impounded.
Don’t park too many devices together. To reduce the amount of visual clutter, the ordinance seeks to properly space parking of devices – a maximum of 5 devices from the same owner can be parked within 200 feet of each other.
Respect private property: Devices can only be on private property with permission of the property owner (except in commercial or multi-family residential properties within common area bike racks and designated bicycle parking zones).”
The ordinance clarified rules for how and where to legally ride motorized bikes and scooters:
“All bicycles and scooters, electric or otherwise, must obey traffic laws, including always yielding to pedestrians. Scooters and bicycles can be ridden on a public sidewalk, multiuse path or roadway if it is at a safe speed to avoid colliding with people, cars and objects around them.
Motorized scooters are prohibited on streets (including bike lanes) with speed limits of 40 miles per hour or greater, and class 3 electric bicycles are prohibited on sidewalks and multi-use paths.
The revised ordinance also prohibits riding electric bikes and scooters while under the influence of alcohol or recklessly. Persons violating these new ordinance provisions are subject to arrest and possible jail time.”
If you need to report an issue such as unsafe riding in a particular area the city askes that you call the police non-emergency line at 480-312-5000.
To report improperly parked bikes and scooters go through the city’s website at Scottsdale EZ website.
“Once there, type “bike” or “scooter” into the search box and follow the prompts to make a report. The application will forward your report to staff or to the private bike- and scooter-sharing companies. People can also report parking issues to 480-312-7433 (312-RIDE) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.”
Another step would be going directly to the companies per the city:
- Bird (black and white scooters): call 1-866-205-2442 or email hello@bird.co
- Lime (yellow and green bikes and scooters): call 1-888-546-3345 or email support@limebike.com
- Razor (red scooters): call 1-833-527-8645 (LAST-MILE) or email sharesupport@razorusa.com
- Jump (red and white scooters and bikes): call 844-505-9155 or email rsammon@uber.com
Anything else, check out this PDF provided by the city:
Happy riding from the Reporter!
