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About 100 electric lime scooters were launched four months after the arrival of 500 lime bicycles in the Reno Sparks. Here's how to use these new devices.
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Lime scooters and lime bikes parked outside the Sup Restaurant in Midtown on the morning of September 18, 2018.(Photo: Mike Higdon / RGJ)Buy a photo

Updated at 5:15 pm with a stop letter from the city of Reno

Lime, the company that has deployed eco-friendly rental bikes in the city, has expanded its business with 100 motorized scooters fell in Midtown today, in a move that sparked a condemnation of the cities of Reno and Sparks.

On top of that, the University of Nevada, Reno Campus became a lime-free zone, and Lime threatened to withdraw from northern Nevada if government entities tried to prevent it from deploying scooters .

"I am quite dismayed by this development," Reno City director Sabra Newby wrote in an email to Reno City staff and board members.

Newby discovered that Lime had deployed new scooters to Reno when she read an email from Lime's director of strategic development, Gabriel Scheer, and a RGJ article on Tuesday morning.

"We are going to evaluate our options regarding this service today," Newby wrote to the staff.

The city of Reno sent a letter of withdrawal to Lime at the end of Tuesday.

"We must now, unfortunately, explore all options to ensure the safety of our citizens and continue to hold all businesses accountable if they violate the law," according to a statement from the city of Reno. "A letter to stop and abstain was sent to Lime earlier today to demand that the deployment and operation of electric scooters be completed immediately."

Sparks Town Manager Steve Driscoll was also unhappy with the launch of the scooter. On Monday, Scheer's email was insufficient notice.

"We do not feel like (Lime) being a great partner here," he told the RGJ.

At a Reno City Council meeting on September 12, Scheer promoted the idea of ​​expanding his bike service to include motorized scooters that can go up to 15 mph. Scheer also introduced a safety campaign to educate riders about driving, parking and wearing a helmet.

"The City Council did not agree to Lime Scooters," said Reno City Council member Neoma Jardon at the RGJ. "We asked them to come back to a future council meeting to discuss many issues, including safety, scooter locations, scooters, prescriptions where and where not to drive, and the need for a campaign. awareness. the audience on all the above. "

More: A 17-year-old boy was hospitalized after the crash of a LimeBike scooter in South Lake Tahoe

The same presentation and conversation took place at a Sparks City Council meeting on September 10th.

"They were supposed to provide us with additional information on how to make the product safer," Driscoll said. "And they did not answer, in our opinion there is no reason for the scooter to move so fast."

At the present time, no ordinance or local law governs autonomous electric scooters. Reno, Sparks and UNR both defined lime scooters as mopeds, which require DMV recording. Sparks and UNR have banned scooters until Nevada DMV says otherwise.

"Our contract with Lime requires them to demonstrate that scooters abide by local and national regulations," said Kerri Garcia, director of communications at UNR. "To date, they have not been able to satisfactorily demonstrate compliance with state law, so the university is not able to". allow scooters on campus. "

UNR and Sparks Marina are now marked as no parking area in the Lime application. Last Tuesday, all lime bikes and lime scooters disappeared from campus.

Scheer disputed the interpretation of the moped in a letter of Sept. 17 addressed to Reno, Sparks, Washoe County, UNR and the Reno-Sparks Indian colony. The letter breaks down the difference between scooters and mopeds, concluding that no law applies adequately and that local governments and lime should work to create new ones.

He adds that the original agreement between local jurisdictions and Lime allows the launch of scooters on September 18 without further authorization and "with the legal certainty that our scooters are not actually mopeds".

"They can not make that choice," said Driscoll about the letter. "As a government entity, we decide the law, and they must abide by our interpretation until they can show us the opposite, and they can not make an arbitrary decision to do what they want to do well. "

Sparks asked Lime to provide an opinion of Nevada DMV before going forward, Driscoll said. The lime did not provide it before deploying the scooters, which could be ridden from Reno to Sparks.

A spokesman for DMV told JGR that scooters are not classified as mopeds.

"Because of the speed and design, they are considered an electric bike," said Alex Smith.

According to a statement from the DMV, electric bikes do not require DMV registration and must comply with all bicycle and pedestrian laws in Nevada.

Scheer's letter also adds that Lime could leave northern Nevada if they do not have the right to put scooters on the street – even if they had already done so.

"We have reached a point where, as a company, we have a choice: focus our efforts on more sustainable programs in other communities or invest in the expansion of our fleet choice in the Reno area, "writes Scheer.

According to Lime's quarterly report, the lime fleet includes 500 bicycles and 100 scooters.

The letter tells government agencies that closing the lime at Réno-Sparks would eliminate 30 jobs and eliminate hundreds of "unsubsidized" motorcycles and scooters from the region.

"We are convinced that the launch of scooters will allow us to give up the choice to close our operations in Reno," the letter continues.

Read or share this story: https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2018/09/18/university-nevada-reno-sparks-new-lime-scooters/1346515002/