Bikemore has supported the City’s Dockless Vehicle Program permit for e-scooters and bikes since before the pilot launched in 2018, writing the white paper that served as the basis for the pilot and supporting legislation to make the program permanent.
While this year’s permit cycle was meant to end in August 2020, it has been on hold due to Maryland’s State of Emergency. So how has the scooter program been doing during pandemic times?
Here are the highlights from the Department of Transportation’s latest update:
Vehicle trips in 2020 decreased 55.6% from 2019. We also saw a shift from weekday rush-hour commute trips to midday/weekend usage.
Trips around the Inner Harbor, downtown, and at college/university campuses dropped significantly, while trips around parks and along transit corridors increased.
DOT used Dockless Vehicle Permit funds to perform an audit on bike facilities and completed work orders to replace 100 flex posts, convert two storm drains to be bicycle/scooter friendly, and added green paint to improve visibility at intersections.
DOT is currently working on installing over twenty bike/scooter parking corrals around the city, prioritizing transit connections, reducing vandalism, and equity zones.
After the State of Emergency is lifted, DOT will release an updated Rules and Regulations for the Dockless Vehicle permit for public comment before vendor applications open.
Currently, SPIN and Lime are the only two dockless vehicle vendors in the city after Lime acquired JUMP and Bolt failed to meet permit requirements.
Lime has re-launched JUMP bikes in the city, but the fleet is still quite small.
Also, Lime chose Bikemore as their “Lime Hero” partner back in September 2020! Riders can round up their rides to make a small donation to Bikemore and have the opportunity to learn about our work through the app.
Read the full memo from DOT here.