Electric Scooters Scoot Closer To Rolling Out In Boston

BOSTON — Electric scooters are a step closer to rolling out in Boston. Following Brookline's lead earlier this month, the Boston City Council voted Wednesday to help bring ride-share motorized scooters to the city. The city council passed an ordinance that would establish licensing and regulations for electric scooter companies.

"It's a first step, I would classify it as a big first step," said City Councilor Matt O'Malley in a phone interview. "It allows us to impanel a working group that's going to come up with the rules and regulations for how it will work, and that's going to allow us to have scooters come to Boston."

No, you're not going to see a dozen scooters rolling down Cambridge Street tomorrow, said O'Malley, who first brought a proposal to City Council last fall. But you will see, "in the not too distant future," a thoughtful pilot rolling out in Boston, he said.

"You see electric scooters in many other states. Some have had really smart and strategic roll outs and are a welcome addition to local transportation. Others have had a Wild West approach. I'm grateful that we're doing the former," he said.

Mayor Marty Walsh and his transportation team drafted the ordinance in January that proposed to create regulations for any electric vehicle, any vehicle powered by autonomous technology and any not motor-driven vehicles that can travel up to 15 mph. After some tweaks, and public hearings, that was the proposal that passed Wednesday.

The ordinance sets up a Small Vehicle Sharing Business Advisory Committee to advise the Commissioner of Boston Traffic Division on sustainability, safety, accessibility and regulatory changes and to come up with specific guidelines for scooter companies applying for licenses. It'smade up of representatives from Office of New Urban Mechanics, the Disability Commission and the Environment Department and a City Council liaison.

"That working group will set up the parameters the structure and get into the application process, and set a cap on the number of scooters and set guidelines where they're allowed to be stored when they are not in use," said O'Malley. "This is a very new industry... it's really incumbent for us to be very thoughtful on it. But no, there's no timeline, yet."

O'Malley says there are plenty of reasons to support e-scooters coming to Boston. He points to the possibility of motorized scooters removing cars from the road, lowering congestion and greenhouse gas. He also said scooters can be an inexpensive way to move folks, particularly in West Roxbury, Hyde Park and Mattapan who don't have easy access to MBTA hubs, an as a way to get them to the MBTA.

"And then if done right, it can help generate money for the city," he said. "The fact that Brookline is starting their program next week shows that there's a lot of interest."

Brookline will be the first city in the state to pilot shared electric scooters (think a hefty razor scooter with a motor, accelerator and hand breaks). Beginning April 1, Lime and Bird, two scooter-sharing companies based in California, for a six-month pilot.

If you remember last summer when California-based company put dozens of its motorized e-scooters in Cambridge and Somerville overnight without the local government's permission. It riled officials, but it also caught the attention of plenty of transportation advocates. Since then, dozens of scooter-share companies have been eyeing Greater Boston.

In January, Gov. Charlie Baker filed a bill that exempts electric scooters from a law that requires signal and brake lights, and rather, classifies them as bikes, which helped.

It's not clear yet what the Boston e-scooter program will look like, but Brookline's will start with about 200 scooters on the street. The dockless scooters will have GPS enabled and connect to an app. Potential riders will open the app, find a scooter nearby and unlock it through their smart phones. The scooter companies recommend wearing helmets and only taking the scooters on shorter trips.

"Bird is thrilled to see Boston become the first major city in the Northeast to embrace our environmentally friendly transportation solution," said a Bird company spokesperson in an email to Patch following the vote. "We are committed to working with the City of Boston to help reduce its congestion and improve mobility for residents."

Lime's Director of Expansion for the Northeast Scott Mullen, too, expressed an eagerness to work with the city.

“We applaud Mayor Walsh, the mayor’s team and the Boston City Council for this huge step toward more affordable and accessible transportation options for all, and we hope to be serving Bostonians very soon," said Mullen in an emailed statement.

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Electric Scooter Pilot To Start In Brookline

Patch Reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).