New Shoreham Council approves Transportation Safety Committee with broad charge covering rental vehicles and e-mobility

The New Shoreham Town Council on Wednesday voted to create a Transportation Safety Committee charged with examining the range of vehicles operating on town roads — including mopeds, bicycles, electric and manual scooters, and electric golf carts — and recommending actions to improve safety and manage congestion.

Councilors said the town has seen growing use of e-bikes, rental mopeds and other micro-mobility vehicles, and they want a standing forum to gather data and propose measures. The council adopted a written charge that asks the committee to emphasize traffic flow, public safety and demand, and to recommend actions particularly for the downtown area.

The issue drew sustained discussion about scope and membership. Councilor Nancy Dodge cautioned that prior drafts had been too moped‑focused and proposed a broader charge to include scooters, rental vehicles and other new mobility types. Councilor Keith Stover, who had worked on an initial draft resolution, said the original document was intended to be broad and not solely about mopeds. Several councilors urged including rental cars in the committee’s scope after members reported hearing public concerns about rental vehicle operators.

Participants also debated who should sit on the panel. The council settled on a membership that will include the police chief or a designee; the rescue squad captain or designee; moped license holders; license holders for rental cars and bicycles; two council members; and a representative of the business community. The town will invite interested residents and business representatives to apply; license holders will be asked to participate.

Representatives of the Block Island Medical Center said they can provide crash and injury data to inform the work but preferred to serve as an ad hoc data source rather than sit as regular committee members. The police chief and other public-safety staff said they would supply operational input and data when requested. Councilors said the council expects the group to invite stakeholders to cooperate rather than take adversarial stances.

The motion to adopt the committee charge and appointment framework passed by voice vote; the council recorded seven aye votes.

The council and staff indicated the committee will begin by collecting existing crash and incident data, rental-license information and rental‑operator practices, and then report back with recommendations for safety measures and possible regulatory changes.