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After banning electric scooters, Cambridge now wants to bring them back. There is only one problem: they are apparently against the law of the state.
While Cambridge officials are starting to develop new rules for electric scooters that can be rented with a smartphone app, officials say it will likely take months before they can be accommodated again.
The reason is a state law that requires motorized scooters to include brake lights and turn signals, which most rental scooters do not have. And until they did, city officials said they could not allow their return to the streets of Cambridge.
The law was created during the rise of the moped. While new hire scooters may be more closely related to childhood toys, such as mopeds, they have an engine and can propel the machine up to 15 miles per hour.
Cambridge Transportation Director Joe Barr said the state's law was likely to change before Cambridge could allow scooters to move around the city's streets. But even if lawmakers wish, they are not officially in session for the rest of the year 2018 and certainly can not change the law until next year.
"We are waiting for the next steps," said Barr. "I guess we will not see these displaced people significantly until the law is resolved."
The other option might be that the scooter companies install the required components. While some models of major scooter start-ups, Bird and Lime, have brake lights, none of the turn signals.
Scott Mullen, Lime Northeast Expansion Director, said it would be difficult to re-equip the scooters with turn signals – and even if it were possible, runners would have trouble using turn signals.
Chris Cherry, a professor at the University of Tennessee, who studies safety issues with bicycles and new forms of transportation, said that turn signals and brake lights would probably not make scooters safer because they are already driving a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour.
"The speeds should be so low that the stopping distance and the brake lights are somehow exaggerated," he said. "Would that justify the overhaul of all equipment and the entire system? I do not know. It would probably be easier to change the legislation. "
Although the safety rules of scooters are not a unique problem for Massachusetts, the laws of other states and communities on electric scooters are everywhere. Some cities have pre-arrival regulations that allow for their use, while others, like San Francisco, have banned them until they can make regulations. Milwaukee has banned scooters this year, arguing that they face the Wisconsin law demanding safety features. The New Jersey law also appears to prohibit their use, although Lime offers his scooters in at least two communities in that state.
Yet, even before the recent fad, the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration has argued that motorized scooters with no seats, such as those offered by Lime and Bird, are not subject to federal vehicle standards.
Mr. Cambridge sought advice from government transportation officials on the legality of scooters, Barr said, but they were told they could not make such a decision. MassDOT spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard said the agency "does not enforce the law on scooters" and said local police departments might decide to crack down or not.
Barr said Cambridge will then work with the city's State House delegation to evolve the law and work with neighboring cities to develop universal rules for Greater Boston.
In July and August, officials from Cambridge and Somerville joined forces with Bird after deploying dozens of scooters without permission. Bird left the area after the cities began impounding the scooters, claiming they violated local rules governing sidewalks where scooters were stored.
At the time, both cities said they would consider policies to allow scooters. Cambridge began this process last week with a hearing before City Council; In Somerville, officials said they had no updates on the process.
No scooter company has yet tried to enter Boston. Mayor Martin J. Walsh said he was skeptical about the new mode of transportation, but the Boston City Council is expected to discuss this fall the possibility for scooters to operate in the city.
Still, Bird spokesman Mackenzie Long said the company hoped to work with the Cambridge Transportation Department to "get back on the road soon". She did not specify a schedule. Mullen, along with Lime, said he hoped companies could test their systems in Cambridge "before the snow started to fly."
Last Wednesday, representatives of Bird and Lime attended the hearing in Cambridge, and city councilors said they wanted to allow scooters to come back, but not without new rules responding to a series of concerns.
Among them: that scooters endanger pedestrians or sidewalks and other public spaces. Published reports suggest that scooter-related injuries are increasing in the cities that allow them, although Lime and Bird maintain that they are still rare and that any new mode of transport should result in injuries to users.
Counselors also discussed whether drivers should have a driver's license, what the companies require, and whether Cambridge should establish special lanes for scooters, separate bike lanes and vehicle lanes. Officials also noted that they are not sure that scooters could work in the winter.
"I think they are a good idea," said Councilor Jan Devereaux, who leads the chamber's transportation initiatives. "The devil is in the details in terms of wanting to use them safely. They are not toys.
Adam Vaccaro can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @adamtvaccaro.
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