First off, get the F’ck over it already!
At the January Active Transportation Board meeting, this request was made;
Board Member Pickard asked if micromobility devices such as e-bikes and e-scooters can be added to the agenda for next month.
I was unable to attend the February meeting this week, I was going to go but knew that if I had to listen to this ignorant discussion another time I would probably say things at the meeting that I would regret, but according to the minutes this was the discussion;
Sydney DePrenger introduced the first item. She informed the board members that City staff from various divisions will be present at the next meeting to provide more insight into how e-scooters and bikes are regulated by the ordinances currently in place. The board discussed actionable items such as considerations of ordinance adjustments that would allow the city to regulate both future and existing bike share business models to help them blend more seamlessly into the community and help resolve existing concerns.
I find the discussion troubling for a couple of reasons.
There is an easy fix to the Jaunt rentals and the city council hasn’t reviewed the E-Bike ordinance change in almost 2 years!
On June 1, 2024 the new Class II ordinance went into effect, and I told the council when they passed this they needed to do a full review of the change in ONE year! That was almost 2 years ago! They have done nothing, and I haven’t seen a bike cop on the trail since! I told them that after passage they should look at stats and see how the ordinance is working. Are there more accidents? Can we allow other micro mobility devices like foot scooters, skate boards and one wheels? They passed the ordinance and looked the other way. I am assuming that is why the ATB is discussing this because NO studies have been done to determine if this is working or not and if we can expand the trail usage.
The ATB can not make ordinance change recommendations to the city council without a study and full review of how it has been working. That needs to be done by the SFPD and Parks Department and the study needs to be delivered to the city council BEFORE the ATB. The city council is the policy and legislative body, though over the past two years they are just a rubber stamp committee for the mayor’s moronic policies so NIMBY clowns on these boards have no authority and no data to back up their concerns.
As for the Jaunt E-Bike rentals I noticed that they were out most of the winter until a month ago they disappeared. I think it is because businesses complained (since most of them were laying on their sides in the winter wind, it is also hard on batteries to be out in extended cold and damages them). They are still in business and it seems they are trying to find a solution to the random nature of the bike’s placement, including in front of bike racks that are intended for OTHER bike riders who are not using Jaunt. The irony is these things DON’T need a bike rack, they run on GPS tracking and can be parked anywhere! My suggestion when the business started was to put up their own personalized racks, put a map on the app where ALL the racks are (so peeps can return them to them) and get a permit for the racks on public property with permission from the adjoining business. It would be similar to the permit bars and restaurants downtown use for patios at a minimal cost. (I think a sidewalk permit is around $35 a year). This could be accomplished with a simple ordinance change instead of a bunch of stupid discussions and whiny businesses (I wonder if they realize it helps their business to have these rentals in front of them?)
And where is DTSF on this discussion? Oh that’s right, the organization now if ran by a puppet.
I have also said that there needs to be E-bike safety courses. These courses should be put on for FREE in a park by the SFPD and the Parks Department with assistance from local bike clubs (city needs to pay them to put on the courses). I saw a lady riding a step thru Gramaton (That’s what I call Aventons because the only people who ride them are Grandmas) and it was fairly new and she was struggling. If she took a short course on how to ride these bikes she wouldn’t be struggling. My guess is after her initial ride the bike is probably sitting in the garage collecting dust. While the city spends millions on an ice rink NO ONE asked for they can’t fix equipment in existing parks (equipment in fitness park has been broken for 2 YEARS! The park is only 4 years old.) and doesn’t put safety courses on. So who does the Parks Department serve? Good question.