SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – There could soon be 1,000 shared mobility electric scooters on the streets of South Lake Tahoe: 500 Bird scooters and 500 Lime scooters. Love them or hate them, they provide tens of thousand trips a season made by locals and visitors, helping to keep cars off the road. Many of the local rides commence at bus stops and provide a quick way home after work when getting off the bus.
Lime has been on the South Shore since introducing its Lime Bikes in 2017, followed by electric scooters and bikes the following year. Shared mobility bikes and e-bikes are currently not allowed in South Lake Tahoe and that same City Code puts a maximum of 1,000 shared mobility scooters operating within the city limits, 500 maximum per company.
Bird launched its shared e-scooter service in South Lake Tahoe earlier this month with “Bird Three” scooters. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department approved the Lime permit on May 25 and the company anticipates deploying its fleet in a few days.
Lime recently asked City Council to consider allowing the popular e-scooters to operate in South Lake Tahoe during a longer timeframe than the current May 1 – October 31. They said the weather can be clear enough to ride during some winter months, but Council turned them down.
Each company must pay a $75.00 non-refundable fee for each shared mobility device in the operator’s fleet for use within the city.
Bird is the newcomer in South Lake Tahoe, and the Bird Three highlights include:
Bird’s Visual Parking System Powered by Google is new technology and enables Bird to geo-localize parked scooters with “pinpoint accuracy.” A first-of-its-kind parking solution, Bird VPS aims to address the industry’s top challenge – parking – in a scalable, efficient, and vandalism-immune way that requires zero infrastructure within a community.
Eco-Conscious & Industry-leading Battery Management System (BMS): Bird is the first and only operator using IP68-rated battery cell packs for their e-scooters. Their BMS enables the company to monitor and take rapid action in cases of safety or sustainability issues like battery failures. In addition, the eco-conscious battery system has a battery capacity of up to 1kWH, requiring less frequent charging than many other shared scooters.
Pneumatic Tires: Recent testing demonstrates that Bird Three scooters’ pneumatic tires are safer and perform better across a wider variety of street surfaces and temperatures than solid tires with shocks, reducing vibrations by 33%.
Extended Footboard: The newest B3 scooters are designed with 25” footboards — longer than any other shared scooter in operation — to maximize comfort and stability for our riders.
Rules for all shared mobility scooters as outlined in City Code:
A. Operators shall comply with the following:
1. Each operator is subject to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations including those in this code and the California Vehicle Code pertaining to the operation and safety standards of the shared mobility devices in its fleet.
2. Each operator shall limit the motorized-assisted speed of each shared mobility device to no more than 15 miles per hour.
3. Through geofencing or similar technology, each operator shall effectively prohibit riders from entering or operating shared mobility devices on public walkways and public rights-of-way within the Heavenly Village area, as designated in the operator’s permit.
4. The chief of police may require operators, through geofencing or similar technology, to temporarily prevent the operation of shared mobility devices in a specific area during an emergency situation or within the perimeter of a permitted special event, when necessary to maintain public health and safety. For permitted special events, the city will provide 10 days’ notice to operators of any additional geofencing requirements.
5. When a rider operates a shared mobility device in the operator’s fleet within an area subject to geofencing, the operator shall notify the rider of the restricted area.
6. Each operator must effectively prohibit a person and account holder from renting more than one shared mobility device at a time.
7. Each operator must effectively prohibit riders under 18 years of age.
8. Operators shall ban the accounts of riders with two or more citations under this chapter.
9. Operators shall remove all shared mobility devices from operation within the city during the period of November 1 through April 30 each year.
B. Riders shall comply with the following:
1. All riders are subject to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations including those in this code and the California Vehicle Code.
2. All riders must be 18 years of age or older with a valid driver’s license.
3. No rider shall operate a shared mobility device with more than one rider per device at a time.
4. Riders must park shared mobility devices on a sidewalk or other hard surface, in a manner that does not impede pedestrian access and provides a minimum of three feet for a pedestrian walkway; does not impede or obstruct access to ADA parking zones, street furniture, curb ramps, entryways, driveways, sidewalk cafes, bus stops, loading zones, or landscaping; and does not impede or obstruct vehicular traffic on a street or alley.