St. Petersburg's city council could put e-scooters on streets before 2020.
That news comes after the city's housing, land use and transportation committee voted to move forward with its e-scooter pilot program. TBBJ said that city council should have first and second readings on the items in August or September. A request for proposals would probably come in September, which could put the program in place by late fall or early winter.
The city thinks that one to three companies could put a total of 750 to 1,500 e-scooters on streets as part of a one-year pilot program that collects trip information, incident reports and more. When the pilot ends, one company would be chosen as St. Petersburg's sole e-scooter vendor.
As we saw in Tampa, where an e-scooter pilot program hit downtown streets over Memorial Day weekend, those plans could always be delayed.
Officials with housing, land use and transport said that the scooters would not be allowed on St. Petersburg's city sidewalks. They would also be banned from all waterfront trail use at the North Bay Trail from Demens Landing to Coffee Pot Park (though they would be allowed on the Pinellas Trail, east of 34th Street and North Bay).
In a presentation, officials added that e-scooters should only travel at a max speed of 15 miles per hour, have a minimum operating age of 18 and operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Clear labeling of corrals would also be required.
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This article appears in Jul 25 – Aug 1, 2019.