East Side Suburbs Mull Scooter Sharing Program

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Cleveland Heights and other first-ring suburbs are considering taking part in a low-cost bike and scooter share program for residents. A pilot program for the devices has already been launched in Cleveland.

The program provides low-cost rentals of electronic scooters and, eventually, electronically-assisted bicycles. Residents would be able to use a smart-phone app to rent the devices.

The county's director of the Department of Sustainability, Mike Foley, said unlocking a scooter typically costs $1, and residents are then charged on a per-mile basis (typically to the tune of 25 cents per mile).

The benefits to a scooter and bike sharing program are simple: it's environmentally friendly, low-cost transportation. In Cleveland, there are currently 250 shareable bicycles, parked at 30 stations, across the city. The goal is to have 1,000 bikes and 100 stations across the county by 2021, according to the Department of Sustainability's website.

There could also be minor economic benefits to the city. For each ride started in a suburb, the municipal government could receive 15 cents, Foley said as an example. That money would be used to offset any costs associated with creating stations where the bikes and scooters can be picked up (Foley calls them rebalancing stations).

Riders don't have to return the scooters or bicycles to any specific location, they can simply leave them wherever their ride ended. However, riders will be encouraged to leave their devices at rebalancing stations.

"It can be messy," Foley said. But he noted there is a solution in place.

The companies that offer the scooters and bicycles will be required to restock the rebalancing stations each morning, so a certain number of devices are ready to be used. Each scooter and bicycle will be equipped with a GPS device, showing where it is in Northeast Ohio. Individuals will then be sent to collect the scooters and bring them to the rebalancing station, clearing the clutter.

Targeting Inner-Ring Suburbs

Foley said the county wants to see the program pushed into inner-ring suburbs next. In part, that's because of the existing infrastructure in place in Cleveland.

"We wanted to make sure this program wasn’t just in popular areas of Cleveland because there’s a value to these transportation networks, particularly in regards to public transit. We wanted to make sure these companies were concentrating on the inner-ring suburbs," he told Patch.

He noted that areas like University Circle already have several rebalancing stations, which are near first-ring suburbs like Cleveland Heights. Lakewood is another city that is already near several rebalancing stations. That would make implementation of a scooter-share program simpler.

Outer-ring suburbs lack nearby access to those rebalancing stations, so riders would have to go further to get a scooter or bike. If inner-ring implementation goes smoothly, the program will be easy to extend further into the county.

Foley hopes east side suburbs will partake in the program by April or May of 2020.

Before the first-ring suburbs install scooter sharing programs, however, they want to hear from residents. The success of a regional scooter-share system relies heavily on residents and how they perceive the program.

An online survey on the program has been shared and can be filled out and submitted.

"The survey should tell us about riders’ favored destinations. That will help the City and scooter companies designate scooter parking and deploy available scooters. It also lets businesses, institutions and the City know that scooters will likely be at these cited places. The survey also allows respondents to mention issues that need to be addressed or anticipated based on scooter systems elsewhere," said Richard Wong, Cleveland Heights' director of planning.

"The system is envisioned as an extension of Cleveland’s scooter sharing system into Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, University Heights, South Euclid and Euclid. The Cuyahoga County Office of Sustainability has an agreement with all four scooter companies requiring that they operate their systems in cities outside of Cleveland."