Houston City Council Quality of Life Committee Meeting on Micromobility - Dec 1, 2025
Houston City Council Quality of Life Committee Meeting on Micromobility - Dec 1, 2025
The Houston City Council Quality of Life Committee convened to review the recently enacted micromobility ordinance and discuss public safety data regarding e-scooter incidents. City Staff and the Houston Police Department (HPD) presented an overview of the new curfew, which prohibits the operation and rental of self-propelled electric micromobility devices citywide between 8:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. Following the presentation, the committee heard public testimony regarding the economic impact on local vendors, legal and civil liberties concerns, and the need for a long-term regulated framework.
Consent Calendar
- No items from the consent calendar were listed in the provided transcript.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Austin Speedman (Bird): Expressed 100% support for the current ordinance as a necessary step and advocated for a future regulated framework involving competitive bidding, geofencing, and data sharing to reduce police resource allocation.
- Dominic Mazark: Expressed support for a regulated system, emphasizing the need for collaboration with METRO and the integration of scooters as a "first mile" transit solution.
- Lily Krause (Lime): Expressed support for the city's decisive action on public safety but strongly advocated for the immediate release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) to create a world-class, regulated program with advanced safety technology.
- Brett Hightower (Legal Scooter Coalition): Expressed support for increased pedestrian safety and the termination of "bad actors," but stated strong opposition to the current 8:00 p.m. curfew, arguing it effectively bans local businesses and threatens their survival; urged a rapid transition to a regulated pilot program.
- Patrick Saylor: Expressed strong opposition to lifting the curfew, citing long-term public safety concerns and the "lawless" nature of current scooter use in downtown; expressed conditional support for a framework with speed governors and geofencing only if sidewalk riding is prohibited.
- Veronica Juarez (Lime): Expressed support for the ordinance's safety goals while emphasizing the need for a regulated program that includes non-recreational riders; stated a commitment to staying at the table to ensure public safety is maintained without creating joy-riding scenarios.
- Peter Eccles (Link Houston): Expressed opposition to the ordinance's current citywide scope, arguing it creates unfair probable cause for low-income commuters; urged the council to address civil liberty concerns and prioritize a comprehensive framework over blanket restrictions.
- Abe Levits (Estonians): Expressed support for safety regulations but stated strong opposition to the current business model's viability under the 8:00 p.m. curfew; advocated for local partnership to maintain 50+ local jobs and implement technology before the World Cup.
- Edgar Gonzalez (ER-A Scooter Rentals): Expressed strong opposition to the curfew's economic impact, stating 90% of customers come after 8:00 p.m.; argued that the current policy forces the termination of 50 employees and urged the council to allow responsible operations post-8:00 p.m. to save local businesses.
- Kevin Strickland: Expressed opposition to the citywide ban, arguing it punishes the entire city for a downtown problem; supported the use of technology (speed governors, geofencing) over blanket restrictions and defended the right to "joy riding."
- Ricky Cardenas (Walk and Roll Houston): Expressed strong opposition, characterizing the ban as a security risk distraction and noting the disproportionate impact on black and brown residents; urged the city to prioritize street safety and driver accountability over micromobility restrictions.
- Adib Baghdadi: Expressed support for safety mandates but stated strong opposition to the blanket curfew; argued it would destroy local businesses and advocated for a technology-based solution rather than operational bans.
- Myson Pervez (Local Business): Expressed opposition to the 89% revenue loss caused by the ban, arguing that local stores control who rents scooters better than national brands; urged the city to avoid solutions that stifle local entrepreneurship.
- Ashton Delcey: Urged the council to not stifle local entrepreneurship; argued that high permitting fees in other cities have crushed local startups and that Houston should create an environment where local founders can compete with national brands.
Discussion Items
- HPD and Staff Presentation: Administrator presented data showing 1,400 scooter-related EMS incidents citywide from 2021-2025, with 78% occurring between 8:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.; clarified that the curfew applies only to self-propelled electric devices (e-scooters, e-skates, etc.) and not human-powered skateboards or non-electric bikes; noted a 50% reduction in EMS calls since the November 19th enactment.
- Councilmember Kamen: Asked for details on HPD personnel allocation and timelines for a regulatory framework; requested an update within two weeks on the decision between an RFP or permitting model.
- Councilmember Evans Shabazz: Expressed concern that the citywide curfew lacks clear identification for exempt riders (students/employees), fearing increased police interaction and profiling; requested a study on identifiable markers (e.g., medallions) to reduce friction for law-abiding citizens while noting the data suggested a downtown-specific issue.
- Councilmember Castillo: Questioned the scope of the curfew and the need for long-term data collection to inform a future vendor program; supported the need to coordinate with special events for the World Cup.
- Councilmember Martinez: Highlighted that Houston's measures align with other major cities (Austin, Dallas, Atlanta); expressed frustration with those calling the work "silly" given documented public safety issues, and emphasized the need for speed governors and age restrictions in future frameworks.
- Councilmember Davis: Emphasized that the issue centers on disrespectful behavior and lack of law compliance specific to downtown; cautioned against blindly comparing Houston to other demographics without understanding local context; supported moving toward a technology-driven framework.
- Councilmember Ramirez: Addressed the "spillover" concern by explaining that if curfews were limited to downtown, vendors would likely shift operations to adjacent neighborhoods like Montrose or Rice University areas; noted that officers can now detain riders based on curfew violations.
- Technical Clarification: Staff clarified that the "human-powered" language in the ordinance was for legal clarity to prevent operators from disabling electric scooters to bypass the curfew, not to ban non-electric devices.
- Medallion/ID Proposal: Councilmembers discussed the feasibility of a "medallion" system to identify exempt riders; Staff and vendors expressed concern that such systems could be exploited by vendors assigning medallions to multiple family members without a permit system.
Key Outcomes
- Data Review: HPD confirmed that enforcement activity has decreased significantly since the November 19th ordinance, with only 5 EMS responses citywide in the first week post-enactment compared to 11 the previous year.
- Resource Reassignment: Staff confirmed that HPD officers previously pulled from other districts for downtown enforcement can now return to their primary assignments due to the effectiveness of the new ordinance.
- Next Steps: The Mayor's office committed to examining options for a long-term regulatory framework, including an RFP or permitting system, with a target to provide an update to the committee within two weeks.
- Public Feedback: The committee noted significant concern from local vendors regarding the economic viability of the 8:00 p.m. curfew and the potential displacement of local businesses in favor of national brands.
- No Vote Taken: No new ordinance was passed; the meeting served as a discussion and data review session.
Meeting Transcript
Council Chambers, my name is Julian Ramirez, Houston City Council Member at Large Position 1, Chair of the Quality of Life Committee. And I call this meeting to order. We have present with us in the chamber our Mayor John Whitmeyer, as well as Councilmembers Mario Castillo, Carolyn Evan Shabazz, Sally Alcorn, Vice Mayor Pro Tim Amy Peck, and myself. We also have staff from Councilmember Abby Kaman's office and as well as my almost entire staff here as well. So we have an agenda that we'll go through today, and after that, we will have public comment. If you've signed up and you're here, we would love to hear from you, even if you haven't signed up and would like to speak. We'll give you that opportunity as well. We've been having some technical issues. And so if you're in the audience, you'll be able to see the slide deck on the screens to your left. Unfortunately, they will not appear on the screens more visible to council members. However, each each everybody will be provided with a copy. And so the uh first item on the agenda will be a discussion of the recently passed micromobility ordinance amendments. And we have a couple of folks from the administration here to provide information. Umshat is here, I believe. There we go. Welcome back. As well as a representative from the Houston Police Department. Hi, good afternoon. Would you like me to raise the podium? Yeah. We'll go ahead and raise the podium for you. You're welcome to sit or stand as you prefer. All right. Good afternoon. Can you all hear me? Okay. Just fine. Thank you. All right. You can proceed. Thank you. Uh thank you, Chair Ramirez, uh, Mayor Whitmeyer, City Council members. Today myself and Captain Countryman from HPD will be giving you an overview of the micromobility ordinance unanimously approved by City Council on November 19th, 2025. I understand you all do have copies of the presentation, correct? So I'm going to go to the next slide, the next page. So on our agenda for today, uh, we're going to talk about the background to the ordinance. We're going to give you an explanation of the Chapter 45 provisions. We're going to give you an update on enforcement activity since the passage of the ordinance. Um we'll talk about next steps and then we'll take any questions that you may have. Next page. So one of the first things that we wanted to address was what is a micromobility device, what is subject to the curfew. A lot of the reports that we saw that came out shortly after November 19th with talks about I can't ride my skateboard or skates are now illegal after 8 p.m. This is all incorrect. So we would just wanted to clarify what is actually subject to the curfew. So the micromobility device, the definition that we created for micromobility device, has a self-propelling component to it. So there has to be a component that is like electric power in order for it to be categorized as a micromobility device. On this page, we've given you the devices that fall into that category of what is a micromobility device and what is subject to the 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew. That would include electric scooters, electric skateboards, electric hoverboards, and electric skates.
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