Santa Monica wants to make e-scooters a permanent part of the road ecosystem with a proposal to rebuild the city’s micromobility transit rules from the wheels up. The Council will hear a proposal at their July 23 meeting to transition the city away from a contract model for e-scooter/bike operators and into a permit model in an attempt to provide more reliable service to residents.
The city’s relationship with the dockless devices dates to the start of the e-scooter revolution with one of the first companies, Bird, setting up shop here and deploying its vehicles in 2017. That kicked off a veritable scooter-storm with devices multiplying in cities worldwide, waves of companies entering the market, waves of companies going out of business and critics accusing the devices of destroying local streets.
The maelstrom yielded a set of Santa Monica regulations that limited operations of bikes/e-scooters to a handful of contracted companies over a multi-year pilot program with limits on the number of devices each company could put on the streets.
In March 2021, the Council recommended transitioning from a pilot program to a longer-term contract model, initially delayed due to COVID-19. The competitive selection process for contracted service began in January 2023, with six operators submitting proposals.
That process generated more controversy after Bird, who had by that point been kicked out of the city’s e-scooter program, was listed as potentially returning despite well documented financial troubles. Instead, Council just extended the current program while staff worked on securing new contracts.
At that point, the city had three operators that were permitted to conduct shared mobility service in Santa Monica: Spin, which was permitted to deploy 700 e-scooters; Veo, which was permitted to deploy 200 scooters and 500 class 2 e-bikes; and Wheels/Helbiz, which was permitted to deploy 100 scooters and 100 class 1 e-bikes. Lyft was formerly permitted to deploy 600 class 1 e-bikes; however, they ceased operations in Santa Monica in 2022 as part of a broader withdrawal from Southern California markets. As it stands today, the city is down to two of its initial four operators, and 1,400 of its initial 2,200 permitted devices.
Now and staff are recommending a pivot away from contracted shared mobility service to a permit-based program.
According to staff, the initial plans to transition to a contract-based model aimed to improve stability, affordability, and service offerings. However, expected benefits, especially in fare affordability, did not fully materialize. In addition, the contract model opened the city to increased operator instability, including halts in service and bankruptcies, that have driven staff to believe a small number of contracted companies can leave the city without mobility services.
Despite the bumpy road so far, staff said the devices are well used and have outperformed other alternatives like LA Metro Bikeshare. In the first quarter of 2024, the local program recorded 125,736 trips, compared to LA Metro Bikeshare’s 8,030 trips within Santa Monica. The devices are also touted as reducing automobile trips, reducing pollution and congestion.
Last year, Councilmembers had mixed reactions to the idea of keeping the devices in the city. While some advocated for evolving the program and keeping it alive, others said they’d be happy to remove the devices entirely. Ultimately, a majority advanced the idea of evolving the program resulting in the upcoming debate over permits vs. contracts.
"Santa Monica has been a leader in the shared mobility space since the beginning," said DOT Director Anuj Gupta. "We have worked since 2017 to address the challenges this new form of mobility has presented, while also making sure residents and visitors have ample access to multi-modal transportation. The city’s shared mobility program continues to provide an important source of connectivity for community members and replaces hundreds of thousands of automobile trips every year. With this update and refresh, we aim to maximize the community benefits of shared mobility while advancing a Sustainable and Connected Santa Monica."
Council meets on July 23 in City Hall, 1685 Main Street. Closed Session begins at 5:30pm.
matt@smdp.com
