CINCINNATI — On Tuesday, the Department of Transportation and Engineering recommended that the Lime and Bird e-scooter curfew be extended, allowing them to be ridden as late as 9 p.m. effective immediately.
John Brazina, director of DOTE, said the department has worked with both companies over the last 60 days to address serious issues regarding the use of e-scooters throughout Cincinnati, including the scooters being used in crimes, reckless riding and a lack of organized parking.
The city of Cincinnati initially set a curfew for e-scooters in April, restricting their use to between 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. until issues identified could be resolved. Before that, the scooters could be used until 11 p.m.
Brazina said DOTE plans to evaluate the 9 p.m. curfew for 60 days and, if data shows issues have resolved, the plan would be to move the time back to 11 p.m. again.
City officials decided to program the scooters with the curfew after discussing issues brought up by the police department and community members. Criminal activities, underage riding and riding on sidewalks — an act City Council banned in 2018 — were among the multiple issues discussed.
During the committee meeting Tuesday, officials with Bird and Lime presented several solutions to issues identified by the city: Implementing an enhanced ID program to deter underaged riders, suggesting a fine system for riders who break the rules and creating geofenced designated parking spaces in which riders must deliver scooters at the end of their ride.
Both companies also said they also plan to implement learning systems to educate riders on safety protocols; Lime plans to implement a safety quiz catered specifically to Cincinnati that riders will have to complete to unlock access to a scooter.
Both companies will immediately implement the enhanced ID programs, which require a selfie in addition to an ID scan to cut down on underage riders. Previously, just a scan of a government-issued ID would unlock the scooters.
Officials with Bird said the company has blocked the ability for payment through Cashapp after they discovered exchanges in Atlanta using the payment app were 80% to 90% fraudulent. Bird officials said that cut down on underage riding and illegal activities tied to the scooters significantly, from 6% to less than half a percent.
Geofenced parking won't be implemented until after the companies can work with DOTE and CPD to determine popular areas where riders are completing trips, to best identify safe and convenient parking zones for the scooters, officials with Lime said. Officials with Bird said their mandatory parking is already in place, but they are still working with DOTE to refine it.
Both companies also proposed implementing a fine system that would charge riders for reckless behavior on a sliding scale, based on the severity of offense and frequency of offenses.
With Lime, riders will receive a warning message in-app and in email if an infraction occurs. From there, a second offense triggers a $10 fine, a third offense results in a $25 fine and a fourth offense will get a rider suspended for one week. Riders will be permanently suspended if a fifth offense happens.
Bird's fine system is broken down into infractions themselves: For improper parking, riders are fined $5 on the first offense, $10 on the second, $25 on the third and their account is terminated after a fourth offense. For unsafe riding behavior, riders will be fined $20 on the first offense and their account can be terminated with a second offense. Illegal behavior can result in an immediate account termination.
Both companies said if egregious behavior is detected from a rider, however, their account can be suspended sooner based on the offense. Bird and Lime each proposed different systems for fines; Lime's fining system is already in place, but Bird hasn't yet implemented theirs, company officials said.
The issue of scooters on sidewalks had a much more complicated resolution: Both Lime and Bird said they did not plan to implement strict geofencing that shuts scooters down when they reach a sidewalk, because GPS tracking within certain areas of the city can be inexact and scooters shutting down in traffic or crosswalks could pose safety issues for riders.
Instead of shutting off when a rider enters a sidewalk area, GPS can notify the company and the rider that they're in a restricted area. Lime representatives said it is possible their company could implement auditory alerts that tell a rider they're in a restricted area every 5 seconds to encourage them to leave sidewalks, but it was unclear whether this tactic would be implemented in Cincinnati.
