City committee extends dockless micromobility permits month to month while code changes are drafted

The Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee voted unanimously June 25 to allow the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATL DOT) to extend shared dockless micromobility device permits month to month for up to nine months beginning July 1, 2025, while the city updates code language and prepares a request for proposals to move from permitting to a contract model.

The vote approved language waiving section 150-401(d) of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances to authorize the ATL DOT commissioner to extend annual dockless device permits on a month-to-month basis through April 1, 2026. Committee members recorded a 5-0 favorable vote.

Why it matters: Committee members said the extension preserves micromobility as a transportation option while staff finishes code revisions and an RFP intended to consolidate operations under a contract with one or two vendors. The department said the RFP package is “pretty much ready to go” but that code changes are necessary to shift from permitting to contracting.

ATL DOT Deputy Commissioner Betty Smoot Madison said the change is procedural: “Currently, the code language speaks to permitting. We have to change that language to contract. And so we're working through legislation now.” She added the package will be with procurement once the legislative items are in place and that an RFP could be ready in the next cycle.

Public comment and compliance concerns: A public speaker identified as Miss Brooks urged a moratorium on new shared dockless deployments until vendors correct longstanding problems, calling recent vendor correspondence “point[ing] to the failure of the program and serious deficiencies.” The department said it is not aware of operators being out of compliance with permit requirements and noted that operators are issued quarterly permits and must respond to 311 reports within two hours.

On sidewalk riding and parking, Smoot Madison said the city has worked with operators on education, testing sidewalk-detection technology and deploying sidewalk decals, and will score operator responsiveness in the next RFP. “We have been working very closely with the operators to … testing different technologies that will do, like, sidewalk riding detection,” she said. She added that operators can restrict or ban users for repeated violations and that the city can restrict permitting for egregious operator failures.

Infrastructure and parking approaches: Committee members pressed ATL DOT on designated corrals and whether operators can require users to park only in corrals. The department said it has deployed about 20 corrals citywide in partnership with operators and Community Improvement Districts and that operators have expressed willingness to deploy additional corrals. “A user is not able to end their ride … if the parking is noncompliant,” the deputy commissioner said; users must photograph the parked device.

Data-driven planning: Smoot Madison said ATL DOT uses a shared micromobility data-management platform that aggregates operator data to identify high-ridership corridors and guide bike and pedestrian infrastructure improvements. That usage data, she said, will inform prioritization and RFP scoring.

Next steps: Committee members requested a council work session before the RFP is released. The department confirmed a curb-management and micromobility work session scheduled for July 9 at 10 a.m. in the same room and said it will brief council on the proposed contract model before procurement begins.

Discussion vs. action: The committee formally approved the month-to-month extension (formal action). Department staff and members described planned program changes, enforcement mechanisms and RFP timing (direction and discussion). No substantive rule changes were adopted at the meeting; the vote preserves existing services while staff completes follow-up legislative steps.

Ending: The department said it will return with legislative changes to shift code language from permits to contracts and that staff will provide additional information to council and to the July work session before the RFP is issued.