How to Fix the Scooter Parking Problem
Start with a carrot, then use a stick if needed
One of the biggest knocks against the scooters that have become ubiquitous in cities across the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world is how they can be parked anywhere. That inevitably leads to people leaving them in places that aren’t ideal parking spots: the middle of sidewalks, streets, near doorways, blocking accessibility ramps, or up in trees. Sometimes they fall down — or are pushed — causing them to further block the path of pedestrians, whose space is already limited.
An analysis of scooters in San Jose from Mineta Transportation Institute found only two percent were parked improperly, but that’s just one city. Whether the parking problem is as big as the news media and people posting on social media make it out to be is largely irrelevant; it still needs to be addressed if scooters are to become an important part of the urban transportation system.
In a session about bike-share services at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in January 2019, the head of a Swedish train company made an important point: dockless services made it easier for people to connect with train and transit services, but they also created a lot of “mess” — and that was a particular problem for people with visual impairments or mobility challenges. The bikes and scooters could make it more difficult for those people to access the stations, but the same is true of other parts of the city, which is why we need to do all we can to curb disorderly parking, even if it’s only done by a small percentage of users.
But how could companies be held to account and user behaviors changed? There are a number of potential solutions.
Dedicated on-street parking
An obvious first step to getting people to park dockless bikes and scooters out of the way of pedestrians is to set aside parking spaces for them. Some cities have painted parking areas for these services onto their sidewalks, but putting the parking on the street is a much better approach. Pedestrians already have very limited space, while cars are given much more than their share of passengers would warrant if it was fairly distributed.
Where possible, cities should follow the example of Santa Monica and start converting some on-street vehicle parking for exclusive use by bikes and scooters. The companies which offer dockless services could even indicate where these areas are on their apps so users know where dedicated parking exists, and hopefully they would choose to park them there. Bike and scooter parking would be a great first step, but efforts to curtail disorderly parking need not stop there.
Docks and parking zones
In response to the Swedish train executive’s question, Sergio Guidon from ETH Zürich provided an example of what Swiss e-bike-share company Smide has been doing to encourage its users to park its bikes in particular areas so they won’t block the sidewalk. Smide has docks throughout the city and small zones where users are encouraged to drop off the bikes; leaving them in either of which will earn the user bonus minutes they can use in future, which Guidon said can accumulate so users parking properly will actually get a lot of free use of the bikes.
More docks are an obvious solution to this issue, especially in busy areas like train stations, transit hubs, and major shopping areas. Ideally, if there are multiple dockless services in the city, there should be a universal dock where they can all be left, instead of having different docks for every company. But bonus parking zones could also be created to encourage users to place the bikes away from entrances and key paths leading up to them. However, if providing users with a carrot doesn’t work, cities could bring out the stick.
Parking penalties and off-limits areas
If setting aside parking spots for bikes and scooters then providing incentives for people to park them in docks and out-of-the-way areas doesn’t work, the next obvious response is to make it very clear where they can and can’t be abandoned once the ride is over. Yes, that may make them a little less convenient, but that may be a necessary compromise in order to ensure sidewalks remain open and accessible to as many people as possible, including people with mobility or visual impairments.
What would that look like in practice? Some cities have already set zones where bikes and scooters are off-limits or can’t be parked, and those areas could be extended to more specific streets or parts of the sidewalk which receive heavy traffic. And instead of providing bonuses for good parking, there could be penalties for bad parking. For example, there could be an additional fee for the user for not leaving the bike or scooter in a dock or dedicated parking zone, and the company could be charged if they don’t move bikes or scooters which pose a safety risk or block access.
Is the scooter parking problem overblown? Probably. But that doesn’t mean we still shouldn’t be concerned when they’re blocking areas meant for pedestrians, and especially when they could make urban space less accessible to all urban residents. Companies have a lot of tools they can use in cooperation with local governments to try to get their users to park bikes and scooters in an orderly fashion, but if they don’t work, harsher measures can always be taken — and they should.
In the end, everyone should have a right to get around their city easily and with as few barriers as possible. New transportation options can enhance that ability for some, but they shouldn’t make it more difficult for others because some users aren’t being considerate when they park. Sharing street space isn’t hard, and if we’re being honest, this conversation needs to expand to cars because if they weren’t taking up so much space, pedestrians, cyclists, and scooter users wouldn’t have to be so squeezed.
