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Council reviews scooter‑share procurement; staff recommends Lime and Spin and tighter indemnity language
Summary
Council reviewed the city’s scooter‑share RFP results. Staff recommended awards to Lime and Spin, highlighted new sidewalk‑detection tech and an income‑qualified access program, and noted stronger indemnity/liquidated damages language will be added to new agreements.
The Committee of the Whole reviewed staff’s recommendation to award the next municipal scooter‑share program to two vendors, Lime and Spin, and discussed safety, enforcement and the legal protections included in forthcoming contracts.
Why it matters: shared micro‑mobility is a visible, widely used transportation option that affects downtown mobility, pedestrian safety, and the city’s public right‑of‑way. Council members weighed vendor selection, enforcement success and how to preserve access for low‑income riders.
What staff proposed: staff recommended dual operators with an initial combined fleet of approximately 900 devices and capability to expand as additional corrals are added. Both recommended operators pledged features designed to reduce sidewalk riding and unsafe behavior: Lime intends to use camera‑based sidewalk‑detection that slows devices and pushes rider alerts; Spin plans telemetric/sensor detection for sidewalk riding and has turn indicators and a seated device option. Staff said both vendors proposed robust access programs (Lime offering automatic enrollment for certain low‑income riders with 70% discounts and Spin offering three free 30‑minute trips per day in its access program).
Safety and enforcement: Police and the transportation team reported that road and sidewalk incidents from rental scooters were higher in the program’s early years but have fallen substantially following education and enforcement operations; privately‑owned high‑speed scooters remain a problem. The city’s police traffic sergeant said the department has issued roughly 100 citations related to rented devices and several hundred for privately owned scooter violations in the past year and stressed that current enforcement is in an active phase rather than purely educational.
Legal and contract protections: city legal staff said previous indemnity enforcement required litigation and that the new agreements will add a liquidated damages clause (proposed $10,000 per claim) if an operator fails to timely indemnify or defend. Council members asked for continued data sharing; staff said Spin and Lime will provide telemetry and ridership data and that Lime’s bike‑share integration may ease multi‑modal access.
Next steps: staff will seek direction to place the vendor awards on the May 15 city council committee report. If approved, staff will finalize agreements with the enhanced indemnity provisions and bring the contracts to full council as required.
