Fort Lauderdale Leaders Consider New Restrictions For E-Scooters

In an effort to curb e-scooter injuries, Fort Lauderdale lawmakers are discussing major changes in their pilot program. Depending on how legislators vote, e-scooters could soon be banned from some of the city’s most heavily trafficked streets.

According to initial reports, some city leaders now support banning e-scooters from a section of Las Olas Boulevard between Andrews and Southeast 17th avenues. It has also been suggested e-scooters might get kicked out of the trendy Riverwalk district and along the A1A.

If these new restrictions are approved, e-scooter companies would be required to install hi-tech geo-fencing throughout the city. With this technology in place, e-scooters would automatically shut off whenever they cross into a restricted area.

On top of creating new restricted areas, city leaders said they would like to add designated parking zones to keep e-scooters out of potentially hazardous areas. They also discussed the possibility of setting a max speed limit for e-scooters at 15mph. Scooters are capped at 15 in most cities. 

There’s no firm date set when lawmakers might formally update the city’s e-scooter restrictions. However, a few Fort Lauderdale officials said they would like to vote on this issue before 2020.

Cities all over Florida have been trying to figure out how to handle E-scooters.  In Tampa, they’ve been sent from sidewalks to streets in an effort to reduce injuries to pedestrians, and over in Orlando people are just getting their first taste of them. Yet over in Fort Myers, they were just banned. 

Fort Lauderdale first welcomed e-scooters onto its streets on November 2018. Although this program was only supposed to last one year, local leaders decided to renew contracts with the companies Bird, Bolt, and Lime on a monthly basis.

For more detailed information on this issue, visit this official link to Fort Lauderdale’s e-scooter program page.