The City of West Hollywood has been mulling over strategies to better incorporate electric scooters and bikes onto streets and keep them off sidewalks.
Two months ago, City Council directed staff to address the illegal riding and confusion over the rules that have plagued the Dockless Mobility Program, which began in July.
Staff is preparing to update City Council with their progress on the directive at Monday night’s meeting.
While riders can legally park their bikes or scooters anywhere between the walkway and the curb, City Council asked staff to add parking stations in the right-of-way in order to encourage riders to keep their micromobile devices off of sidewalks. WeHo now has 22 stations on city sidewalks and four on streets. Staff will now explore the idea of converting underperforming parking meter spaces into parking stations.
Technology exists that can detect when people are riding their bikes or scooters on sidewalks, and the city is looking to see whether options are available through current operators Bird and Lime, or through the addition of two new providers.
City staff has also produced a public information campaign and materials meant to educate riders on the new rules of the road.
Hang tags will now be placed on all devices that provide info on safety and where to file complaints; however, the turnover on mobility devices is very high, with 90 percent of the fleet swapped out in a month’s time.
Informational signage has been installed throughout the city, and public outreach efforts are being made at events such as the Farmer’s Market.
I sent this complaint below to WEHO parking, everybody should do likewise so the city understands the scope of the problem, the pilot program is already a failure: As in Beverly Hills, scooters should be completely banned in the interest of public safety. I see scooter riders breaking the law EVERY DAY. Riding on sidewalks, riding wrong way, running stop signs, etc. Enforcement is almost zero, according to your own data graphs. I’ve been nearly hit multiple times, and seen old women jumping out of the way of dangerous joyriders. It’s basically too dangerous to walk 5 blocks to Target or Galanga, so now… Read more »
Let the West Hollywood Ambassadors taze them on sidewalks and give a ticket when they fall off. Give them a cut of the tickets.
Yeah, sure, no lawsuits would ensue from that.
Maybe the problem is that only an idiot would ride one of these scooters on the street or sidewalk. They’re just being their jerky selves and won’t stop until the smart people enforce the laws.
This program is a hazard to pedestrians and motorist alike, especially the handicapped.
Kill this program before someone dies.
The parking of a scooter in front of my building, in the middle of the sidewalk, happens nightly. (kings rd right before willoughby). It is left til morning, when it blocks the sidewalk, for walkers, wheelchairs, and folks with canes or walking assistance devices, as the senior housing is 1 block away. I have seen seniors have to wheel their chairs into the street to get past my building This is not progress. This is an accident waiting to happen. There mst be a way to charge the last driver for these sefish parking practices.
The scooter has 2 wheels. Just push it out of the way.
Im sorry…….is someone from the scooter companies putting me on their payroll to keep them in compliance? are you? If not, your response is moot.
Check out whats happening on the sidewalks of West Hollywood
Bad Scooter Weho YOU TUBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqWQzyZiFhQ
INSTAGRAM
bad_scooter_weho
Ticket all scooter and cycle riders when they ride on the sidewalk—problem solved. Anything else is just lip service.
Wonder what the budget was for creating these silly children’s messages and signage to direct the children of West Hollywood to pay attention. This is the Public Information Departments failure. No one pays attention and the department does not seem intelligent enough to know their lack of effectiveness.
I have said this a million times. Why can’t we just get the sheriffs department to assign officers, especially during peak times, to hand out tickets? Are they too above that? Can they not assign Junior officers to this role? Why will the city Council not stand up to the sheriffs department? Wouldn’t these roles pay for themselves? We have safety ambassadors, but my understanding is that they cannot hand out tickets. Is the sheriffs department too above and beyond to have people “walking the beat?” They could also hand out tickets to people riding their bicycles illegally, and people… Read more »
If the technology exists to detect when people are riding their scooters and bicycles on the sidewalk I wonder if they noticed when I had two scooter riders pass me on my right and two who passed me on my left at the same time, AND a bicyclist right after them going the same direction ( east as I was walking west) on Santa Monica Blvd near 24 Hour? At least they weren’t coming up behind me … this time! THEN, when I got the attention of a sheriff’s deputy who was sitting at the light to whom I pointed… Read more »
Either make it so you get charged until you return it to a docking station or get rid of them altogether – people are lazy, AND they don’t follow rules so good luck getting them to stay off the sidewalks and stay in the terrifying “bike lane” of the streets.