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5.
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| TRANSPORTATION, WATER & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE |
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| Information |
| Referral History: |
In late 2017, several bikeshare companies launched dockless* operations throughout the United States. In early 2018, the Shadelands business center, located in Walnut Creek, initiated a pilot program with a dockless bikeshare vendor (LimeBike). Shortly thereafter, Limebike bicycles began appearing at the Contra Costa Centre and on the Iron Horse Trail. Unlike Walnut Creek and other cities in Contra Costa County that entered into agreements with LimeBike, Contra Costa County was not approached by the company prior to operations in the unincorporated area.
In March 2018, TWIC received a report of abandoned and haphazardly parked bicycles at the Contra Costa Centre and directed staff to develop dockless bikeshare policies and agreements. Staff was further directed to consult with dockless bikeshare companies in order to ensure we would not unnecessarily stifle entrepreneurship and innovation. In July 2018, TWIC received an update on staff's efforts to develop dockless bikeshare policies and agreements and directed staff to develop an ordinance that regulates dockless bikeshare and other shared mobility devices and bring it before the Board of Supervisors for consideration.
This issue is rapidly changing, LimeBike is now doing business as “Lime”, no longer operates in Contra Costa and is primarily engaged in scooter share operations among other last mile solutions.
* There are two predominant types of bike share systems, docked and dockless. As the names imply, docked bikes need to be both rented and returned to specific docking stations. Dockless bike are rented and tracked via GPS and wireless technology and can be rented and left at virtually any location. |
| Referral Update: |
Staff from the Department of Conservation and Development, Public Works Department, and County Counsel have developed a draft ordinance (Exhibit A) that regulates shared mobility device (“device”) operations, including those currently prevalent in use (e.g. bicycles and scooters) and those that may emerge in the future. During development of the ordinance, staff reached out to a number of device operators (“vendors”) and Contra Costa Centre property management staff for their input. Prior to bringing it before the Board of Supervisors for consideration, staff is presenting the draft ordinance to TWIC for its review.
Summary of the Draft Ordinance
A dockless device may not be placed or parked in the public right-of-way unless an encroachment permit has been issued. Docked devices and docking stations are prohibited within the right-of-way.
An encroachment permit to park devices in the public right-of-way will be issued for a one-year term. It may be renewed for successive one-year terms.**
A device must be parked only at a location(s) designated in the encroachment permit. It must be parked in the upright position. A device may not obstruct a sidewalk, a travel lane, or on-street parking area of a public road or highway. It must be parked a minimum of 10 feet away from features located in the right-of-way (e.g. fire hydrant, disabled parking zone, curb ramp, transit stop, driveway).***
- Maintenance and Operational Requirements
A device must comply with the applicable requirements of the California Vehicle Code and all applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations. It must include both self-locking technology and a GPS-based tracking system. The device must have affixed to it a label that identifies the vendor and the vendor's 24-hour customer service telephone number.
- Retrieval and Communications
The vendor must maintain a 24-hour toll-free customer service telephone number. The vendor must provide a retrieval plan, which includes the names and telephone numbers of people responsible for relocating, removing, retrieving, and rebalancing the device fleet, to the County prior to issuance of the encroachment permit.
The County may impound the devices if the vendor fails to relocate, remove, retrieve, or rebalance them consistent with the vendor’s retrieval plan. The vendor must reimburse the County for costs incurred for impounding and storing devices. If a device is not retrieved within 30 days after impoundment, the County may revoke the vendor’s encroachment permit.
Consistent with other encroachment permits, the vendor must maintain certain policies of insurance that name the County as an additional insured.The insurance required by the ordinance includes general liability insurance with a policy limit of at least $2,000,000.The vendor also must indemnify the County against liabilities that arise from the activities covered by the permit.
An applicant for an encroachment permit to operate devices in the right-of-way must provide a security in an amount to be determined by the Public Works Director (no less than $1,000) to cover County costs to remove all devices authorized under a permit and restore the right-of-way to its former condition.
The vendor must satisfy all data-sharing requirements. The data type**** to be submitted by the vendor will be approved by the Board of Supervisors concurrently with the draft ordinance.
** In its guidelines on shared mobility device operations, National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) recommends limiting the duration of vendor operations to a fixed time period and requiring vendors to re-apply for each renewal. This would allow jurisdictions to evaluate vendor operations and performance and refine operational requirements.
*** In its guidance document on bikeshare regulation, the North American Bikeshare Association (NABSA) suggests that jurisdictions consider specific bikeshare parking regulations near features located in the right-of-way.
**** County staff is currently researching other jurisdictions’ data sharing requirements as a possible model for the County’s data sharing requirements.
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| Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s): |
| RECEIVE update on the draft shared mobility device ordinance and DIRECT staff to bring the matter to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. |
| Fiscal Impact (if any): |
| N/A |
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