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Dallas could add more limits on scooter rides to address safety risks – Dallas News


If the city wants to rely on scooters as a mode of transportation, then scooters should be treated and respected, Bullard said.

Depperman said her one ill-fated scooter trip left her feeling vulnerable.

“You’re scootering in and out, trying to dodge cars, people, construction signs. … [and] you can’t be on the sidewalk,” she said. “What the hell are you going to do?”

Kourtny Garrett, Downtown Dallas, Inc.’s president and CEO, said cities need to play a role in regulations and enforcement without discouraging scooter companies from locating in Dallas.

“The council is very open to competitive market behavior, and we don’t want to be a city that runs these types of technologies out,” Garrett said. “There’s certainly a balance. And I think that balance falls on both parties.”

Possible regulations

Rogers said both parties can and should do more.

He said the companies could use GPS technology to limit rides in prohibited areas, he said. And the city could pull companies’ permits if they don’t follow the rules.

Matt Tolan, vice president of sales and partnerships at Ojo Electric, said Ojo will replace its scooters by September with a new fleet that has “geofencing” capabilities — boundaries around specific locations that could be used to prohibit or discourage scooters in banned areas.

In other cities, geofencing has been used to automatically enforce rules around certain locations. On the University of Texas at Austin campus, for example, scooter riders automatically slow down to 8 mph when they hit those zones.

Rogers wants to explore that technology, as well as other ways the companies could be more involved in enforcement.

The ordinance currently relies on parking enforcement officers or other city staffers to make sure people didn’t ride the scooters in banned places, such as trails. Rogers said that’s unrealistic.

“It is very difficult to enforce just with a human being,” Rogers said. “We need to start looking at utilizing technology.”





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