Title
Approving the agreement with Lime to provide e-scooter sharing services for 2019.
Body
WHEREAS, Mayor Carter’s Administration and the City of Saint Paul value innovation, resilience, and equity, including in transportation options; and
WHEREAS, electric-assist scooters ("e-scooters") are an emerging new mobility option that has proven very popular in other cities across the U.S. and internationally for moving around town using a low-carbon mobility option; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul created a four month e-scooter sharing pilot program in 2018 to gather information about levels of use, for what purposes, appropriate parking locations, and more; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that the e-scooters served an important and valuable transportation service for Saint Paul residents and visitors; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to continue to permit e-scooters to operate on city property in 2019 by entering into agreements with up to four e-scooter vendors to operate a total of 2,000 e-scooters; and
WHEREAS, the City is introducing new requirements for the 2019 season limiting the number of e-scooters permitted in the downtown area while requiring a minimum percent of the e-scooter fleet be distributed throughout Areas of Concentrated Poverty; and
WHEREAS, per Chapter 141 of the Legislative Code regulating Shared Transportation Systems, vendors are required to have a contract with the City to operate, and that contract must be approved by City Council; and
WHEREAS, the City solicited applications from e-scooter vendors to provide e-scooter sharing services for the 2019 season; and
WHEREAS the city received an application from Lime to provide e-scooter sharing services and they are willing to comply with City ordinances regarding Shared Transportation Systems; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the Saint Paul City Council hereby approves the attached agreement between the City and Lime to provide e-scooter sharing services for the 2019 season.