SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Electric scooters are a popular way to get around South Lake Tahoe when congested roads and short excursions make cars undesirable. Both Lime and Bird provide scooter rentals within the city limits, with a maximum inventory of 1,000 mobility devices between the two.

The scooters are used by both tourists and locals, with South Lake Tahoe residents using them in what is known as the “last mile,” the distance between a bus stop and destination.

In 2025, there were 176,433 rides on scooters through Lime (124,212) and Bird (52,221). Bird statistics show 12 percent of its riders were locals with an average 1.45 miles per ride. Lime has 1.5 percent local riders with an average ride of 1.14 miles.

South Lake Tahoe City Council has an agenda item during its meeting Tuesday that addresses changes to the current shared mobility device (SMD) ordinance. See agenda here.

On March 26, 2024, the City Council adopted Ordinance 2024-1184 that added requirements to the previous ordinance requiring the SMDs to be parked in corrals and added additional requirements to implement the corrals.

On March 11, 2025, Council considered and declined to adopt an ordinance that would have amended the ordinance, which would have caused a 50 percent reduction in SMDs permitted within the City. Instead, they directed staff to bring an item back with a presentation of potential options for increasing (1) the City’s liability protections from SMD accidents, (2) safety measures for SMD operations, and (3) updating shared mobility device operator insurance requirements.

Staff brought a first reading of a proposed ordinance on March 10, 2026. At that time, Council declined to adopt the ordinance and instead requested additional amendments related to parking, permissible bikeways, and photo enforcement.

On Tuesday, Council will see an item that incorporates all of the requests and brings the proposed amendments back as a first reading of an ordinance for Council’s consideration.

Highlights of the proposed changes:

  • Add permit requirements to require operators to make each rider re-scan their ID the first time they ride an SMD in the operator’s fleet within the City each calendar year.
  • Increases the aggregate amount of liability insurance an operator must carry for all occurrences during the policy period from $4,000,000 to $5,000,000.
  • Requires operators to offer or make available, or confirm the rider maintains, insurance coverage for bodily injury or death suffered by a pedestrian when the injury or death involves the negligent conduct of the rider, of $10,000 for each occurrence, and for property damage to an assistive technology device, of $1,000 for each occurrence.
  • Requires operators to create a parking and safety education plan as part of their permit application. Operators should engage with riders to protect the safety of customers and all roadway users. Operators must educate riders about safety, and riding rules and etiquette at the time of sign-up. Operators must educate customers on how to appropriately park SMD devices.
  • Operators must conduct at minimum six community events or safety workshops per year, half of which must be targeted to less-served community members in multiple languages. Operators must host at minimum two learn to ride education opportunities per year. Engagements shall include a mix of virtual (digital media and in-app communications), physical, and in-person methods. This engagement should consider the needs and concerns of riders as well as non-riders.

Other items the Council previously wanted addressed that aren’t in this update include:

  • Review and analyze possible updates to painting and signage on bikeways to ensure safety. There was not sufficient time to conduct a comprehensive cost analysis before Tuesday’s meeting.
  • Enhancement of the corrals, including corral signage – additional locations for corrals have been identified. The operators have agreed to “help” with the corral signage and location designation. However, while the undertone of help was to cover costs, that estimation or limit has yet to be defined.
  • Consider methods to further enforce the prohibition on riders under the age of 18 – The proposed amendment ads permit requirements to require operators to make each rider re-scan their ID the first time they ride an SMD in the operator’s fleet within the City each calendar year. This is intended to support the prohibition on underage riders. While helpful to this goal, this mechanism will not achieve 100 percent compliance. Aa bicycle patrol officer may help, they cannot be at all locations at all hours.