Columbus bans e-scooters on sidewalks
Stay off Columbus sidewalks, scooter riders. The ban is now in effect.
Columbus issued an emergency order Tuesday banning electric scooters from riding on sidewalks and making other rules. Department of Public Service Director Jennifer Gallagher issued the order as the city administration waits for Columbus City Council to return from its summer recess and vote on permanent code changes.
The ban is the product of several months of debate inside City Hall, where officials have been researching the response of other cities to scooters from tech vendors Lime and Bird suddenly appearing for rent on sidewalks.
Mayor Andrew Ginther announced last week that his administration would issue the emergency guidelines and then propose legislative changes to the City Council.
“There can’t be any enforcement from a ticketing standpoint until that legislation is enacted and effective,” said Jeff Ortega, assistant director in the Department of Public Service.
Those code changes would add “e-scooters” to the city’s law that bans adults from riding bicycles on sidewalks.
Police rarely invoke that violation when writing tickets, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records.
Since the start of 2015, cyclists have been ticketed a total 240 times for riding on sidewalks, and the number of citations has dropped each year, court records show.
Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is a minor misdemeanor. If the council approves the legislative changes, riding an electric scooter on the sidewalk also would be.
The start of emergency rules signals the start of an education campaign for riders to move from the sidewalks to streets, bike lanes and shared-use paths.
“Columbus is a forward-thinking city that shares Bird’s vision of building a community with fewer cars, less traffic, and reduced carbon emissions. We look forward to working with the city to create and enforce common-sense rules encouraging the safe use of our sustainable transportation option,” a Bird spokesperson wrote in an email.