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Redwood City residents are one step closer to having access to shared electric scooters and bicycles, as the city considers a proposal to allow third-party operators to install micromobility devices.
City Council discussed the topic at a recent meeting, where members reviewed details of the proposed micromobility plan explained in part by Malahat Owrang and Jessica Manzi, the city’s senior transportation planner and senior transportation coordinator, respectively.
The electric scooters and bicycles would provide Redwood City residents with first-last mile connectivity from their neighborhood to public transit centers, allow short-distance travel within the city, and establish an equitable, sustainable transportation solution for its residents, said Manzi at the Sept. 13 meeting.
“Our primary interest in allowing micromobility shared operations is to advance the city’s goal around overall mobility and climate sustainability while also supporting the recovery of local businesses,” Manzi said.
The proposed program is part of the citywide transportation plan the city established in 2016 to address population growth, traffic congestion and increased residential and commercial development in the community.
According to the proposed plan, operators would have to pay three fees: 1) a nonrefundable application fee of $2,000, which would cover the cost of the permit, the renewal and fleet expansions; 2) A nonrefundable 15 cent fee per ride to cover administrative costs, and 3) a refundable $5,000 fee for maintenance and repairs. The city would revisit the fees annually to ensure they cover all costs.
While council members were supportive of the plan, some had concerns regarding enforcement, safety and public education.
Council member Diana Reddy said she worried that the devices would be left haphazardly across the city.
“Based on your conversations with other communities, are you confident that the vendors would be able to control that in some way?” Reddy said.
Owrang said that some vendors asked that riders take a picture of the bike or scooter to prove that they returned it, and if that picture is not provided, the company will continue to charge the rider’s credit card. The devices could also be equipped with GPS and a locking mechanism to prevent the bike or scooter from entering specific zones.
Redwood City Mayor Diane Howard wanted to know how aggressive the city should be when educating the public about the available devices and how to use them. She said she had experienced some issues with a similar program during her time in San Diego.
“People nearly ran people over with their scooters on sidewalks and pedestrians were flying left and right to get out of the way,” Howard said. “I don’t want to see that happen in Redwood City. I’d like to be more proactive and get out in front of it with education as much as possible.”
To establish the shared micromobility plan, the City Council will have to make changes to the municipal code, specifically in Chapter 8, to meet state requirements that micromobility operators first get approval and obtain a permit from the city, Owrang said.
The city would also require the operators to set a minimum and maximum fleet size, allow for a discounted pricing plan, ensure that the devices are equally balanced throughout the city, provide public education on device use and establish a local 24-hour customer service staff, Owrang said.
It’s not the first time the city has considered adding shared mobility devices for its residents. In 2013, Redwood City was one of five cities in the Bay Area that piloted a BikeShare program with funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
While the program was mostly a success in San Jose and San Francisco, according to Owrang, it didn’t do too well in Mountain View, Palo Alto and Redwood City. She said she believed the city did not have the required infrastructure to support the program.
“Every destination, back then, was in walking distance. Back then, we did not have Google in Redwood City. We did not have Stanford in Redwood City,” she said, adding that she did not work for the city at the time. “People would get off the train and walk to their destinations. I heard that they even tried to move around the bicycles, but it did not work out.”
It will be different this time around due to large employers who’ve since moved to the region, she said, noting that new developments are popping up around the city.
Adrian Brandt, cofounder of Redwood City Forward, who addressed the council during the public hearing and spoke to the Pulse, said the proposed plan “was merely setting the basic stage and framework” for vendors to operate within the city. Redwood City Forward is a nonprofit focused on progressive views related to housing and transportation in the city
Shared micromobiity ridership has soared more than 500% since 2010, according to statistics compiled by the National Association of City Transportation Officials. The NACTO report does not include ridership statistics following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a follow-up blog post, the organization found that shared micromobility ridership had dropped at the beginning of the pandemic, but has since rebounded.
The discussion was meant to be addressed in a May meeting, but it was postponed until September. The council will discuss the topic again at its Oct. 11 meeting
Michelle Iracheta is the editor at the Redwood City Pulse, a local news site dedicated to providing accurate and timely news to the Redwood City community. Michelle can be reached at miracheta@rwcpulse.com, on Twitter, on Facebook, and by phone at 832-729-2105. To read more stories about Redwood City, subscribe to our daily Express newsletter on rwcpulse.com.
