Photo: City of Tampa
Tampa introduces fines to enforce parking zones for e-scooters
09 April 2024
by Christopher Carey
The city of Tampa, Florida has announced a crackdown on poorly parked e-scooters with riders facing a US$5 fine if they do not park in a designated area.
The city says the measures will give its e-scooter scheme “the best chance at success”, and are aimed at “cleaning up sidewalks and reducing the likelihood of bad behaviour”.
“Each scooter ride takes a car off the road and the issues that come with congestion, parking etc,” a City of Tampa spokesperson told Cities Today. “However, the most common complaint we hear relates to the rentable e-scooters being left all over the sidewalks, knocked over and sadly, even thrown into the river. Why someone thinks it’s funny to dump an e-scooter into our precious waterways is ridiculous but it happens too often. This is also a problem for accessibility on our sidewalks and we want to be sure everyone has access to get to their destination.”
Compliance
According to the city the fees will levied by the three firms operating e-scooters – Lime, Spin and Helbiz.
Each vehicle is equipped with software that alerts riders to where they can and cannot park. Docking stations include hundreds of marked corrals, electronic virtual corrals, public bike racks, scooter racks and charging stations across the urban centre.
The city has also set up an interactive website where residents can request locations where they feel corrals would be beneficial.
Fees levied vary but can be up to US$5, and customers who find a misplaced vehicle may return it to a dock and be rewarded a “bounty” by the operating company with a credit to their account, ranging from $0.50 to $2.50.
“The penalty is administered by the vendors and will be used by them,” the spokesperson added. “We will be monitoring the penalty data from the vendors monthly to ensure that they’re holding up their end of the deal. We expect compliance and have been assured by the vendors that they are onboard. Personally, to my eye, I’ve seen far fewer e-scooters strewn about – not zero, but fewer than prior to April 1 when the new rules went into effect.”
Image: City of Tampa
