After months of discussion, city staff presented a revised dockless bicycle and electric scooters ordinance to council members this week that councilman Erskine Oglesby said is the result of input from several different entities, including electric scooter companies.
The ordinance, when passed, would only be valid for 12 months and then city of Chattanooga officials could look at the impact of dockless bicycles and scooters in the city before renewing.
The revised ordinance could come before the council for a first vote as early as Tuesday, April 30 if council members don’t have any further questions or concerns, Oglesby said. The final vote would be a week later.
The revised ordinance would require electric scooter companies that wish to launch in Chattanooga to first obtain a “Dockless System” permit from the city for a one-year pilot program. Scooters would only be allowed in the city’s “Urban Overlay Zone,” which is mostly downtown and stretches from Missionary Ridge on the east, North Chattanooga and Hill City to the North, the base of Lookout Mountain to the West and the Georgia stateline to the South.
Oglesby is sponsoring the ordinance, and much of the approved dockless vehicle zone falls within his district of Alton Park, East Lake, downtown and St. Elmo.