Split WeHo Council keeps scooters for now, adds speed limit

In a 3-2 vote, West Hollywood City Council decided to keep dockless mobility in the city alive for now.

Two years after it began, the pilot program that puts electric scooters on the streets has polarized the community and the council. A vocal bloc of residents outraged over the dangers and nuisance they present to pedestrians has led the charge to get them banned.

All five councilmembers admitted during their Monday night meeting that dockless mobility has major problems— bad contracts with vendors Bird and Lime, dangerous behavior by riders, an inability by those companies to curtail riding and leaving devices on the sidewalk — but while Councilmembers John Heilman and Lauren Meister thought the pilot program had failed in its objective, Mayor Sepi Shyne sided with Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson and Councilmember Chelsea Byers, both stalwart proponents of the program.

Shyne’s motion directs City Staff to immediately re-negotiate the contracts with the scooter providers and calls for a speedcap of 10 miles per hour for all scooters and e-bikes within city limits to be instituted as soon as possible. City Council will decide in late October what to do with the program after that.

“I’m sure there are folks who are thinking it would be totally safer for a person to not be on a scooter, period, but I want to remind us of the larger priority that this program came around, which was an opportunity to get people safely on to alternatives of transportation, that contributes to our climate goals in big ways,” Byers said.

“This two-year pilot has shown us that we cannot rely on these companies to be responsible,” said Meister, who voted against the motion and wanted the program to end. “They don’t care if their riders are under 18. They don’t care if they ride on a unit without a helmet. They don’t care if someone is over the weight limit. They don’t care if a bystander gets hit or hurt. They don’t care if their riders don’t have insurance. They don’t care if their units are left blocking the public right of way, or on a parkway, or in the middle of the street. I believe the pilot has run its course, and it’s time to conclude it.”

“We have companies who are trying to exploit the demand in the community for these devices and they have no interest in being partners with us,” said Heilman, also a “no” vote. “They have interest in simply doing things the way they want to do them. And as Councilmember Meister indicated that has been the modus operandi from the get-go. So I am not supportive of continuing this program. I would love for us to have a way to provide micro mobility devices that are safe in the community. But I don’t think we can do that with the current partners nor do. I don’t think we can do it with scooters at this time.”

“I’m not going to spend $600 on a scooter,” Erickson said. “It’s just stupid. Like, I want to rent a scooter to be able to go somewhere and have it be an affordable option that I can include in my monthly budget, especially for commuting to work by train. It may not work for everyone, but we’re trying to find a compromise and address the concerns of different groups. Classifying our efforts as lacking compassion or disregarding people with disabilities or seniors is an oversimplified argument. We’re here every day, trying to navigate through this and make decisions based on the numbers and data we see.”

He noted how there had been “37,900 to 43,561 trips” on Scooters within two blocks of his home.

Shyne’s motion ensures the long-awaited telephone portion of a regional survey on desire for scooters will be completed.