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Shared electric scooters, a source of entertainment and controversy in other cities, will arrive in Chicago next month.
The city on Wednesday released details of a pilot program allowing the sharing of electric scooters across much of the northwestern, southwestern and western sides, including in neighborhoods as diverse as Austin, Avondale, Pilsen and South Lawndale, at the lake.
The program was expected, following a report released in March by Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Mobility Task Force, which recommended a pilot project in a defined area rather than the entire city. The scooter program will be similar to bike sharing, in that users will pay for one ride and then leave the scooter to another user.
"Scooters can potentially offer an affordable and environmentally friendly transportation solution to thousands of Chicagoians," said Sharon Feigon, executive director of the Shared Use Mobility Center, a non-profit organization that advocates shared mobility. in a statement. "We are very excited to test the impact of this new mobility option in Chicago."
Chicago is using this pilot project to test how scooters can help reduce car use, facilitate transit access and improve access to transportation, said the department's commissioner. Chicago Transportation, Rebekah Scheinfeld.
Scooters have been a source of contention in other cities because of the fear that they throw sidewalks and pose a risk to the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. The Chicago program includes rules that try to solve these potential problems.
The program, which runs from June 15 to October 15, limits speed to 15 mph and limits the area where scooters can be parked. It will include a minimum of 2,500 and a maximum of 3,500 scooters in the pilot area, distributed equally among the selected suppliers. Suppliers have not yet been selected – the most important in the country are Bird and Lime, both based in California.
Bird and Lime issued similar statements by email on Wednesday.
Bird said he was "looking forward to serving the communities of Chicago with our fair and environmentally friendly alternative to short car trips".
Mr. Lime stated that he was looking forward to "presenting our bid to demonstrate the value that Lime can offer Chicago by providing a more affordable and more equitable transportation solution that helps users get cars out of their cars" .
Thom Rickert, Emerging Risk Specialist at Trident Public Risk Solutions, who studies electric scooters, said the city's driver could work because of its limitations.
"It's more difficult in more congested urban areas because you're interacting with pedestrians, cars, and infrastructure that's not designed for that type of vehicle," said Rickert. "The best thing to do is to have a limited release in a restricted area."
DePaul University Transportation Expert, Joseph Schwieterman, said the city was advised to only accept a small program.
"This pilot project is important enough to significantly improve mobility while preserving safeguards," he said in an e-mail. He added that the mobility benefits on the southwest side will be particularly important because of the lack of public transit service in this area.
The city requires that scooters be parked so as not to clutter the sidewalks. This means that they must be parked upright and that they can not block bus stops, loading areas or building doors, the city's program regulations said. Vendors must remove scooters not legally parked within two hours of a complaint, the city said.
Scooters can not be mounted on sidewalks or between 22 hours. and 5 o'clock in the morning ..
Scooters can be located and unlocked with the help of a smart phone, although providers will have to offer services to users other than smartphones and cash-based options, the city said. The pricing details were not immediately available.
The pilot area will be bounded by Halsted Street and the Chicago River to the east, Irving Park Road to the north, the city limits and Harlem Avenue to the west and the Chicago River to the south. This area is less well serviced by the Divvy Bike Sharing Program than the more eastern neighborhoods.
The pilot area includes two priority areas, where at least 25% of the scooters must be placed each morning. The priority area on the north side is bounded by Chicago Avenue to the south, Irving Park to the north, Pulaski Road to the east and the city boundary to the west; the south area will take Chicago Avenue to the north, Kedzie Avenue to the east, the Chicago River to the south and the city to the west.
The city also did a pilot project to test the bikes without a dock last year. This year, the city chose to use Lyft, which operates Divvy, as the only self-service bicycle operator.
Twitter @marywizchicago
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