Bird Scooter has been causing a stir since the day they hit the streets of Nashville. On Tuesday Metro Council deferred the second reading of an ordinance that would regulate the ride share system.
Here's some of the big takeaways from the ordinance:
- If riders are on the sidewalks, they need to yield to pedestrians.
- Operators also need to encourage riders to wear helmets.
- When riding on a street, riders need to follow rules of the road as if they were driving a vehicle.
- Parking the scooters has also been a major concern and this ordinance would require riders to not park them in right-of-ways.
“Tourists are going to drive them and use them but I think most of all it’s going to be a very good transportation option our Nashville citizens, the people that actually live here….but also to and from transit stops, bus stops,” Councilman Jeremy Elrod said.
The ordinance would require Bird to share information about riders like demographics of the users and details on the trips they take after being in operation for a year.
Metro confiscated 400 bird scooters back in June. Bird agreed to keep them away until they are regulated.
Councilman Freddie O'Connell voiced concerns about the ordinance Tuesday.
“People, now that they realized this was coming up for a second reading...which means discussion, which means if we get passed this we can’t amend it anymore. They haven’t had time to look at this to say hey, did we get these numbers right? Hey, are all the regulatory pieces that actually concerned us when these things were operating, are those addressed,” O'Connell asked.
