HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-08-23 Public Comment - D. Carty - May 9, 2023, City Commisssion_ Micromobility Work SessionFrom:Daniel Carty
To:Agenda
Cc:Nicholas Ross; Taylor Lonsdale; Candace Mastel
Subject:May 9, 2023, City Commisssion: Micromobility Work Session
Date:Monday, May 8, 2023 11:16:01 AM
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Date: May 8, 2023
To: Bozeman City Commission and Transportation DepartmentSubject: City Commission Meeting, May 9, 2023, Micromobility Work Session
I am writing to comment on the Micromobility Work Session, which is largely a worksession on the future of the private sector's (i.e., for profit) electric scooter rental
business in Bozeman.
In CY2022 in the City of Bozeman (City), the private sector's electric scooter rental
business was a lesson to us all in the tragedy of the commons, i.e., the vendor that
ran the business treated the City as its "commons" and, purely for its own financial
gain, used the City and abused the City as it pleased. Since then, the City has paid a
lot of money to a private sector consultant (Cityfi) to try and bring order to the chaos
associated with CY2022's electric scooter rental business. Of course, bringing orderto the chaos that is the electric scooter rental business in the City lies not so much in
Big Ideas (Cityfi's terminology) as in the details of how the City could and should
regulate CY2023's vendor and how the City and the vendor could and should regulate
CY2023's scooter renters/drivers.
Obviously, most—if not all—of the problems associated with the private sector's
electric scooter rental business in Bozeman have resulted from the City not
adequately regulating the vendor and from the City and vendor not adequatelyregulating scooter renters/drivers. Adequate regulation could be achieved by
incorporating the following requirements and financial penalties into the vendor's
contract:
(1) Every electric scooter owned be the vendor should have easily identifiable license
plates (front and back) that are large (12 inch x 12 inch), reflective, and lighted at
night.
(2) Financial penalties should be imposed on the vendor and scooter drivers for all
acts of illegal parking. Scooter drivers should not be allowed to end a trip outside of a
designated parking area. However, if a scooter driver abandons a scooter outside of a
designated parking area, then that scooter driver's credit card should be charged aprogressive financial penalty until the scooter is moved into a designated parking
area.
(3) Every day and night (i.e., continuously), the vendor should be required to collect
all illegally parked scooters and move them into designated parking areas.
(4) Financial penalties should be imposed on the vendor and scooter drivers for all
provable acts of illegal driving.
(5) If the vendor does not abide by requirements 1-4, then the City should have the
right to cancel the vendor's contract with no notice.
Daniel Carty
213 N. Third Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715
dgc12@hotmail.com406-548-2810