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.

Now what is not included in the curfew?

So what is not included is also listed on this slide.

And these are devices that are already regulated by Texas Transportation Code.

So they do not fall into our category of micromobility device, and they are not subject to the 8 p.m.

to 4 a.m.

curfew.

The inclusion of the phrase human-powered may have caused some confusion in our micromobility uh device definition.

Um and that was put in there to uh for legal purposes because we know that an electric scooter can be ridden with power, but it can also be manual.

So we wanted to make sure that when HPD was out there enforcing, someone is not turning off their electric scooter and simply running it manually and then trying to like kind of carve themselves out of the ordinance.

So that is why that language is in there.

But it does not mean that something that is solely powered by human power is subject to the ordinance, if that is providing some more clarity on that.

I'll go on to the next page now.

So in July of 2025, we brought forth an ordinance that would prohibit the operation of scooters, e-scooters 24-7 within downtown, east downtown, and midtown.

It was presented to the Quality of Life Committee, where we received public feedback from the public.

The draft ordinance was also posted online where we solicited further feedback.

Next page.

So after we we did that presentation, we went through all the feedback.

At the Quality of Life meeting, there were 40 people who attended, and of that, 45% supported a complete ban, whereas 55% were opposed.

We also had an online form that received 304 responses, of which 82% opposed an outright ban.

Finally, a survey was pushed out via Zen City, and there was about 4,000 interactions with that survey.

And the general feel was that a compromise solution made more sense than the ban that we had proposed.

On our next page, I want to remind you of the data that we looked at to set up the initial boundaries for that scooter free zone.

We looked at scooter incidents calls to EMS.

So from 2021 to 2025, 536 EMS responses to scooter incidents happened in downtown.

Of those scooter incidents, 65% required further treatment and uh transport to the hospital.

So that was 65% of those accidents required.

It was not just EMS coming and helping on the scene and then leaving.

They had to take someone to a hospital for injuries.

A majority of these EMS calls, and you can see on the chart on this page, um, 78% of the scooter calls uh were occurring between 8 p.m.

and 4 a.m.

So deaths due to scooter incidents is more difficult to track.

We know that the Chris uh database uh managed by Text Dot does track scooter related deaths, but these are only when there is another vehicle or property involved.

It does not include accidents where someone falls off of a scooter and gets serious injuries or uh dies from falling from uh scooter.

So there is limited data on how you can track deaths associated with uh these devices.

We do know that there were at least two deaths from people just falling off of a scooter and sustaining um head injuries that caused their death.

And this was because these these were reported in the media.

There's really not a database that tracks uh deaths related to scooters unless there is a vehicle involved.

On the next page, we went back to the EMS data when we were considering on how to move forward.

We wanted to look at data for EMS calls for scooters citywide.

Um as you can see on this chart.

So the blue line is the number of scooter calls, scooter-related calls to EMS that we've gotten every year from 2021 to 2025 year to date.

Over the last five year span, we've had 1,400 incidents involving scooters across the entire city of Houston in that same time frame.

So whereas previously we had 536 happening just in downtown, citywide, we are seeing 1,400 um scooter-related incidents requiring EMS to come to the scene.

If you look at the chart, the blue line on there, you can see the trend is it's increasing, it's growing and it's growing fast.

We have not even ended 2025, but we've already surpassed scooter-related incidents that happened in 2024.

Right now we're on track if we stay at the same rate to having about 424 scooter-related calls for um EMS this year alone.

We also wanted to kind of estimate how much is being spent on EMS calls for these scooter incidents.

And looking at the past five years, we're estimating approximately 2.8 million dollars in EMS expenditures related to calls solely for scooters.

We also wanted to look at HPD costs and see what are the costs being incurred by HPD when it comes to enforcing scooter issues in the city.

So we looked at data for this year.

So this fiscal year, year to date, from July 1st of 2025, HPD has spent about 185,000 on scooter-related initiatives.

That's just from July to November of this year.

So we're on track for HPD, if the situation remains the same, to spend about 400,000 this fiscal year just on scooter related initiatives.

If you extrapolate that over the next five years, nothing remains unchanged.

That's $2 million just in about HPD costs.

And then EMS costs is 2.8.

You're looking at $5 million a year that the city is uh $5 million or a million dollars a year, I should say, that the city would be spending just related to scooter called for EMS and enforcement for uh scooter related issues.

On our next page, we wanted to give you an update on the enforcement activity that has been going on for scooter related issues over the past four years.

So we've updated this chart.

This was presented to you in July, and we've updated it with numbers uh that HPD has been uh working on since July 1st of this year.

Uh you can see that HPD and ARA targeted enforcement has resulted not only in citations to riders and vendors, guns have been seized, arrests have been made.

Um if you look at the number of rider citations issued, so there's 215 riders' citations that have been issued over the past five years.

166 of those 215 citations were issued from July to November of this year.

So in the past six months is when uh 166 of the rider citations were issued.

You can see also on the chart that there were 43 weapons seized.

Um of the 43, 38 were seized in this same time frame.

That's July of 2025 to November of 2025.

So we also want to point out on this chart, you can see that there is uh the citations issued to vendors is limited and it's low.

And that is primarily due to the fact that there is no authority for HPD, there was no authority prior to November 19th to issue citations to operators that were on private property.

So they could put up a tent, they could be on private property, and HPD literally had no authority over that.

Since November 19th, the ordinance has corrected that.

So HPD has the ability to enforce that.

I want to um, and we'll give you the numbers for the past week um on a on a further slide, but over the past weekend we did see HPD do some more activity with scooters and vendors, um, particularly over Thanksgiving weekend.

And I'll give you those numbers later on too.

So on the next page, I want to talk about the primary elements of the ordinance that was approved by city council on November 19th.

So taking in all the feedback we received by keeping in mind the EMS data, we updated the ordinance to address the problem hours.

Remember, 78% of scooter calls for EMS are happening between 8 p.m.

and 4 a.m.

This is when our city resources are stretched in.

Um this impacts our limited resources and directs them to problems that we can better manage through other means.

We also then applied the curfew citywide because we know if we set boundaries, there's gonna be spillover, and we wanted to prevent the problem from moving into other neighborhoods and having to fix the same problem again.

So we expanded the scope and made it a curfew that is now 8 p.m.

to 4 a.m.

citywide.

Besides the curfew on riding scooters after 8 p.m., the ordinance also prohibits the rental of these devices between the curfew hours.

So stores can stay open, but after 8 p.m.

they can no longer rent out devices, and any rentals must be returned by 8 p.m.

To address the complaints and also assist HPD with challenges relative to the fly by night operators.

We included a prohibition against temporary structures to offer these devices out for rent at any time.

So this is not just during curfew hours, temporary structures are prohibited at all times, and that can be enforced before 8 p.m.

or after 8 p.m.

So while HPD already had the authority to impound scooters that were on the being stored on the public right of way or parked on the public right-of-way, the ordinance was strengthened to authorize the impounding of devices that were being operated in violation of the curfew.

So now if there is scooters out there after 8 p.m., HPD has the authority to impound those scooters.

We also added a provision to have a hearing process for impounded scooters.

And finally, we had some affirmative defenses uh to prosecution that I'm gonna detail on the next page.

So if we can flip the page.

Going to work, you're going to school, coming home from school or work.

This is an affirmative defense if it happens during the curfew.

You're allowed to do that.

The second affirmative defense is responding to an emergency or a you know an urgent medical situation.

This is another affirmative defense.

We also have an affirmative defense for law enforcement, City of Houston personnel, emergency response personnel who are act who are active in their official duties, they are exempt from the affirmative defense applies to them.

And then finally, we wanted to have a uh affirmative defense for special events.

So if something is permitted, an event is permitted through the mayor's office of special events and is sanctioned, city event, they have an affirmative defense to having micromobility devices at their event.

Next slide or next page, please.

Okay.

So earlier I gave you a chart that gave you, you know, the past five years of enforcement but of enforcement activity that we've been doing on scooter related issues.

Here we want to talk specifically about what's happened since November 19th to give you an idea.

So on November 19th, City Council unanimously approved the curfew.

On November 20th, we delivered copies of the ordinance, FAQs, and notification of the ordinance effectiveness to eight vendors.

On 11 uh November 21st, an uh a vendor operating out of a temporary structure was warned, and eight brick and mortar uh locations were warned regarding the ordinance.

On November 22nd, five more brick and mortar vendors were warned regarding the curfew.

On November 27th, we had a box truck that was found um operating illegally.

HPD seized about 16 scooters, and there were two citations issued that day for uh vendors.

On November 28th, HPD seized uh 14 scooters and 19 micromobility device uh citations were issued for violation of curfew.

So that's the enforcement activity.

We literally saw almost overnight a decrease in activity.

EMS response.

We also wanted to look at that.

That was one of the things that we based our timings and locations on.

So EMS response to scooter incidents citywide from November 19th to December 1st was five five responses this time frame.

All of them were outside curfew hours and only one was in downtown.

So they all happened before 8 p.m.

Nothing happened during the curfew, and only one happened in downtown.

To give you a comparison, last year, November 19th, 2024 to December 1st, 2024, there were 11 scooter incidences that EMS responded to.

10 were in downtown, and only one was outside of downtown.

So literally overnight you see you saw that in that one week the numbers halved.

So we think the ordinance has made some good uh progress on efforts to clear our public right-of-way.

On the next page, we can talk about next steps.

So now that we are working to clear the sidewalks and mitigate the risks, particularly, you know, in the downtown and the surrounding area, what are our next steps?

So we're looking at a framework for how do we manage uh a scooter program that takes into account you know the smart technology that's out there.

Can we talk about geofencing?

Can we talk about no-go zones?

Can we talk about speed limits?

Can we talk?

Can we look at a framework that makes sense that protects our folks in the public right of way and maintains the integrity of our public right of way?

So should we move forward with some sort of a pilot or a program?

The data would be collected and then analyzed to look at a framework for a plan that makes sense in the long term.

Um the mayor has committed to looking at a framework for a long-term program.

And on the next page, I am at the conclusion of my presentation, so now happy to answer any questions that you may have.

And um thank you, Captain Countryman, for being here so she would can help with any HPD questions.

Great, thank you, Maria.

Before we go any further, I do want to note that we have two additional council members with us, uh, Councilmember Martinez and Councilmember Davis have joined us.

We also have staff online from Councilmember Um Thomas' office, Council uh Mayor Pro Tem Castax Tatum's office, Councilmember Plummer's office, and Councilmember Jackson's office.

So happy to have everyone here.

Uh Mari, let me ask you just a few questions and then we have uh some folks in the queue.

First of all, on slide number five.

As part of the engagement process.

And online feedback received.

Regarding the survey, can you tell us whether the question posed was relating to just a complete ban or what we have now in the form of a curfew?

The questions, there were I think there were five or six questions.

And I don't remember the exact questions off the top of my head, but it was there were scaled questions.

So it kind of asked them how strongly they felt about certain things about banning scooters or uh looking at different options.

But I can get you that list of questions.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

And on slide number six, public safety data.

One of your bullet points says HB did reported four deaths resulting from scooter collisions.

You referenced two media reports where uh two individuals fell off scooters that apparently didn't involve motor vehicle collisions, is that right?

That's correct.

So would that be then a total of six?

Right.

The four that HPD reported as part of from the textile database where there is another vehicle or uh property involved.

Got it.

Okay.

All right.

That's that's all I have at this time.

We do have some folks in the queue online.

We have Councilmember Kamen.

We'll see if we can connect with her.

Are you there, Councilmember?

Can you hear me all right?

We can hear you.

Great.

Um Maria, thank you so much.

And I uh I apologize that I can't see the slides as they were presented, so if this is repetitive.

Um please forgive.

But when you talk about HPD coverage for enforcement of this, do we have, and this may be a question to HPD, a number of how many HPD personnel have been working, not the proper term, but this beat, right, of enforcement and things of that nature, and how many hours in the field that has been.

I think um HPD reported that they spent 185,000 this fiscal year in um uh that's basically overtime program to uh handle any scooter related issues.

So I don't know if you want to speak to how many officers that might mean.

I just a quick follow-up.

I in Yeah, I would mean in terms of enforcement of the new ordinance.

Of the new ordinance.

So right now it's just been my hotspot unit, which consists of one sergeant and six officers.

And then I did have some additional help one night from South Central Division and also from Central Divisions, um, their club units, which is the same amount.

So looking total, um, six each squad is six officers and one sergeant.

So that's what I spent on those, but not that's not including when we actually did the surge just throughout the summertime, which we could give upwards of seven um probably about 25 people at one time during surge.

So it'd be um helpful to know again as we get further into the enforcement aspect of this, um the hour, how much in terms of resource it is to enforce the new ordinance, right?

Uh just to compare to everything we were dealing with prior to the ordinance.

Uh, Chair, I don't know if there's a way for us to come back or get a quarterly report or even a report in February on that, but I I'd love to know kind of where things stand with that.

Um Maria, when you talk about the the mayor's office being open to a regulatory framework for I'm assuming a a contract that would go out in RFP before that.

Do we have a timeline on that?

So we're still looking into the different options that are uh available.

RFP is one of them working with uh special events.

We know we have the affirmative defense for um uh special city events.

So we're looking at multiple options right now.

We will have a better idea of a timeline once we figure out which is the better option.

And I can share that with you guys at the end.

Okay, do you know when do you know when we'll have a better idea?

And the reason I am asking all of this is because one, we don't have a bike share program in the City of Houston.

That was eliminated.

We've now eliminated um scooter rentals, and I, for one, have you know, supported the need for a regulatory framework, right?

We've heard from restaurants downtown, we've heard from parks downtown about how out of control and unsafe this was.

But with all the technology that is available and the revenue that can be created in a safe way for Houstonians and visitors to get around.

I want to make sure we're providing as many multimodal options as possible for for folks to safely enjoy Houston.

Understood.

Do you know when I think the question, Chair is just when will they have an idea of what the next step is?

We are currently examining the different options, so I don't have a really clear timeline, but we could certainly get you some idea in the next few weeks once we figure out which is the best option.

Okay.

Yeah.

If we could get an update in the next two weeks, I would appreciate that very much.

Sure.

Thank you, Councilmember Kamen.

And I would know that the next step slides does indicate that you're going to be collecting data to help inform future future efforts.

So just to follow up on what Councilmember Kamen asked about, I I had heard anecdotally that prior to passage of this ordinance we were increasing enforcement in the downtown area, and that we may have been pulling officers from other parts of the city in order to do that effort.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Yes, it is.

All right.

So we were pulling officers from other parts of the city.

And now that the ordinance is passed, I assume there is no longer any need to do that, and these officers can return to where they were normally assigned.

That's correct.

This ordinance made it it's a lot easier now for my officers to actually effectively address the smaller crowds because they're not unruly like they were before the ordinance was passed.

We will go to Councilmember Evans Shabbos.

Thank you, Chair.

And certainly uh after I this was passed, uh someone came to me with some questions.

And I realize that this was a citywide ban, which is a problem, because first of all, I don't think the data supports that it should be a citywide ban.

And then I have students in my um district, Texas Southern, University of Houston, community college that use scooters to get back and forth.

And so certainly that's a problem for them to have a curfew.

But then, of course, I immediately reached out, you know, to the mayor, you know, via ticks, which is my way, and uh we did communicate about it.

But I have a concern that there is nothing that identifies people who are exempt.

I don't think people should be stopped riding a scooter that will increase interaction with HPD.

We need to decrease the interaction with HBD, especially since, you know, we have uh incidents where ISIS call when people are stopped.

Um maybe a helmet or something that identifies, I don't think people should have to be stopped and then prove that they have the right to be on the scooter within the or past the curfew.

So as a next step, I would like for us to look at that.

Uh because we're not trying to increase interaction.

Uh if anything, we need to decrease interaction, you know, and even carrying it over to people being stopped for violations such as an inspection sticker and all of that, but that's a topic for another conversation.

But certainly I don't want students.

I mean, people have a fear, first and foremost, and you stop them and they are on a scooter, and then you ask them to prove that they have the right to be to be riding it.

I don't think that's the way.

And so perhaps as a next step we can look at something that's identifiable where people can see that they have the right to be on that scooter outside of that exemption.

And I would like to even see an amendment to say that it does not include citywide, because those aren't the areas that have really been the concern.

It's been the downtown area.

And I think that's certain people have thanked me profusely about that part.

But I I think perhaps we do need to look at this a little bit further.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Did you did you want to add anything to that, Mark?

Sure.

Um so that was something that was discussed.

You know, how do we uh handle the the private use?

And I think one thing is conduct.

You know, I see responsible scooter riders, and then you see the joy riders.

There is a matter of conduct here, and HPD officer can ascertain um, you know, who is the joyrider and who is coming to and from work.

Second, with um moving forward with some sort of a medallion requires more work regarding the AP, regarding the fee structure, regarding things that we have to put in code.

And right now, what we wanted to do was really clear the streets.

We wanted to take this stopgap measure to clear the sidewalks and prep for what the next steps are.

So I hear you what you're saying about you know responsible scooter riders being stopped.

I would think, or I would hope that if you see responsible scooter riders, they're wearing scooters, they're obeying the traffic laws, they are following everything.

They're not the ones that we are trying to curb with the the curfew.

It is the joy riders, and they are typically riding around in in large groups.

And if we it, you know, medallions is something to consider maybe for the future, but for right now, we wanted to let HPD enforce the ordinance as is and see how it works out.

If I could.

Yeah.

You know, first and foremost, anybody whose behavior creates an opportunity for HPD to stop them, that would be in place.

But I again know that sometimes we have profiling and people are stopped for whatever reason, and you can certainly say, well, uh I stopped you and I have a right to stop you because you are riding a scooter and you have passed the curfew.

I I I don't want to put people in a position where they have to defend that they are responsibly riding a scooter.

I mean, I understand in a perfect world we could say, oh, that might work, but I don't want people to be put in a position that they have to defend that they are there, and then they end up in another situation that could mean could I see your ID?

Could I do this?

Oh, there's a warrant.

Oh, you gotta go.

And so I that's I I don't think that that's what we're looking to happen.

We want people to operate them responsibly.

But I don't want them to be in a situation where, oh, there's a student.

I think I'll just people too.

Let's just be real.

People do harass people for various reasons.

Yeah.

And I don't want them to fall subject to that.

Can I just follow up real fast on so no?

I hear what you're saying.

I totally I understand that.

I see your point of view completely.

Um one challenge that we also struggled with is if you start putting medallions on scooters, like do we have operators now that are looking to at some sort of schemes like to transfer ownership to customers.

So they get medallions for scooters, and then Maria temporarily owns the scooter while I'm riding it, and I have a medallion on it.

I have we have vendors that have eight scooters.

They come downtown with eight scooters.

Every one person in their family could get a medallion and they could put those out there.

So we wanted to make sure that we didn't leave any loopholes.

Because in 2021, when we passed the ordinances that we passed for scooters, there were loopholes.

So I hear you on the medallions.

Um like I said, this is a measure to clear the sidewalks, mitigate the risk, and we would like to see how it works out for HPD before we go into next steps into something like that.

Okay, just with all due respect, I don't think I said anything about medallions.

But certainly there needs to be something that we look at that can help people to be able to peacefully pass without having to be stopped.

Sure.

And so whatever measure we can come up with, I mean we got a lot of good minds here.

And so certainly I I would love to look at that.

Thank you, Councilmember.

We have Councilmember Castillo in the queue.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you both for the presentation today.

I do uh appreciate how this started as a ban engagement was done, feedback was was solicited, and now we are on a curfew from eight APM to 4 a.m.

Um Beyond the postcards that are being mailed out and the warnings that are being issued by HPD, how else are we letting folks know that this curfew is now in place?

Well, we have booths on the ground.

So parking officers have been out there and HPD has uh been out there on the streets actively enforcing.

So when November 19th, um Captain Countryman, do you want to speak to us how many warnings that you'll did or what you saw out there actually, because after November 19th, there wasn't a lot of activity.

It was really really quiet out there.

Um for the most part, once the curfew went into effect, it was like a ghost town.

And so you actually have pedestrians that were out and join Discovery Green.

Um I rode around that night and it was I mean very minimal activity.

A couple scooter riders that were encountered, they lived downtown, spoke to them, they weren't even aware of the curfew.

So once they were made aware, they're like, hey, no problems whatsoever.

Um then during the day, I've had my officers going out as they encounter scooter riders when it is legal to do them to let them know, hey, just reminder, right?

You have to put it up, take it back to the rental place.

We've it's been real everybody's been real receptive on it, except for this past weekend, it was kind of like seeming like people are trying to test the waters to see what they can get away with.

Um but like I said, it was more manageable because it was a smaller crowd.

Some officers are able to handle it immediately.

So thank you.

Um I think it is important to do what we can to make sure people are aware.

Um and if that's a notice in a water bill or some targeted messaging to the folks that live downtown or vicinity of downtown that do own scooters.

I know a couple of my constituents reached out uh when the ban was being proposed, and they take the scooter to work.

That's their primary means of transportation.

They live close to downtown.

Um making sure we are doing what we can to make sure people know that this is on the books.

Ultimately, I mean I've I've been down there, I was there with the the mayor and the police chief at night looking at Discovery Green, seeing what a lot of us have seen on videos, the safety issues, the the folks getting um uh harassed that are driving, uh scooters coming down the opposite way, all of it.

Ultimately, I think we're gonna need something that's more long term than the curfew, which you were talking about the um the next steps of this bringing on a vendor or someone that has the technology to regulate this in a way that prevents a lot of the safety issues from occurring, that prevents the issues that we're seeing um specifically in downtown.

So to that point, and I know you're collecting data, I know you're looking at next steps.

Are we looking at what other cities have done to also get ideas from on on how we put something together moving forward?

Yeah, yeah.

There are cities have done it multiple ways, right?

We have a regulatory framework that's via permitting, we have cities that have issued RFPs.

So we're looking at both of those.

And uh and then we're also looking at um, you know, the special events uh ordinance and how do we maybe coordinate with that for a pilot, perhaps.

Because I know everyone's thinking about the World Cup.

Yeah.

Um we also have the World Baith Ball Classic that will be here even before the World Cup.

Um so we'll have activity going on downtown where we may need some type of pilot in place before June of next year.

Yeah.

No.

Thank you.

I hear you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Castillo.

We have Councilmember Martinez on the queue.

Thank you, Chair.

Um first I just want to say uh thank you for your presentation.

Um it's interesting.

Some folks would consider this being silly, us regulating a time, a curfew that in Austin, quite frankly, they already have one.

Dallas, their rentals are allowed from 5 a.m.

to 9 p.m.

So their curfews from 9 to 5 a.m.

Atlanta, they regulate from 12 a.m.

to 4 a.m.

So that we're not doing anything out of the ordinary.

Um I think what makes it difficult is that some folks have been, you know, they confuse this with anti-micromobility, which is not the case.

I think at the end of the day, what we're trying to do, and somebody that represents downtown that has received this call, these calls, whether they want to acknowledge it or not, are real.

People are out out there at 9, 10, 11, 12, quite frankly, the time the timeline that you shared with us where we get the highest cause.

There's a l thousands of scooters were out.

That's joy writing.

It's not micromobility.

And so, you know, I appreciate this opportunity uh for Councilmember Damitis to host this, have folks to come and speak to it, but I also need to think I also feel that there needs to be a really honest conversation from folks that call this silly.

When we're really talking about public safety, folks that have actually have been shot at and take off on scooters because it's documented in the news.

This is real work.

This is not silly work.

This is real work that we're trying to do to make sure that we're addressing a a specific, very specific issue at a very specific time.

And then my hopes is that this framework that we're looking at, which is pretty much every other major city in the U.S.

and quite frankly, other places in the world that have the same micromobility uh with speed governors with um geofencing, everything that we need, age restriction, which it again in Atlanta there's age restrictions for 18.

You have to be 18 and over.

Um there's speed governors in Dallas, 10 miles per hour in the busy districts.

All of this is is work that we ultimately want to continue to do.

So this is not the end.

I think this was a good first step.

It's a good compromise from a full ban, whether people want to see it or not.

And if they don't want to be on board to help with the solutions, then quite frankly, you know, we need to get the work done, and we're going to continue to move forward.

So either come with solutions or let us continue to do the work that we're here to do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Martinez.

And um, to your point, uh, I think the the effort was made to attack the reckless use of scooters.

Certainly we do have folks who use scooters to get to work in school.

And um, this was an attempt to strike a balance, I believe.

But as you have pointed out, it's a first step, right?

We're gonna collect data to see uh what should be done next.

We're gonna consider whether a company uh with the latest technology, you know, should be allowed to uh to operate with within the city.

Um to Councilmember Evan Shabazz's point, uh if an officer sees someone on a scooter after 8 p.m.

Uh that is reasonable suspicion to detain and inquire further.

Um, you know, we should consider whether uh that's that's where we want to be.

Now it is an affirmative defense to prosecution that the scooter rider was going to work or school.

Um but that that that is that is a fact.

So we have one more council member in the queue at this time, Councilmember Davis.

Thank you, Brother Chair, to uh colleagues, um, thank you for your presentation concerning this matter.

Interestingly, uh when these issues come up or when this first came up, uh we hear not a lot of concerns, and certainly I'm not one for trying to interrupt people making money or having a business.

But in all we need to take in consideration that the businesses that were offering scooter riders, particularly centered around downtown, that's obvious.

Um the objective, I think uh Councilman Joaquin was very clear in many discussions we've had about it, was what the scooter riders were creating.

Now we're hearing many people make the statement about well, what if this, and what if the police stop them, and what if we and all these objective things, which is certainly, but I don't think the businesses considered that.

When they started it, they didn't take that in consideration.

That's not a negative statement until the business owners.

But I think it's pretty clear that since the riding ship of these scooters of what it has created, and I re-emphasize this, not do it every time, that the disrespect of people downtown.

Let's be clear.

We're not talking about scooter riders that was on the west side or that centered in a mall.

There are many malls around, you don't see that.

They made it purposely to come downtown.

And that created an issue.

And I'd say it before, almost hit three scooter drive riders.

They do not respect the lights, they do not respect the vehicles.

So now that puts the driver on many of us downtown to be extra careful in you watching scooter riders.

That's the that's the whole thing that's a public safety issue.

It's not the intent of stopping business, not for me to stop scooter businesses for making money.

But when you but if you put the business near downtown, that attracts the people to ride them to come down and to ride the scooters, and as we've been down there in Discovery Green, I have many occasions, late at night.

Young people who my person should be at home.

But they choose to do it because it's fun, it's having fun.

Uh so I I think the data is clear, and and let me just say this as I close.

Every city is not like Houston.

If you live in other major cities and you look at the makeup of them, Houston ain't like Chicago.

Chicago ain't like Dallas.

Dallas is not like Atlanta.

So when we make these assumptions about what every other cities are doing, that's fine if you want to collect data.

But unless you demographically have lived in those communities, and so what how to set up, then you have to think a little be careful about how just thing and compared Houston to every other city on this matter.

So I think that's something that we need to be.

All of the options I think need to be considered, the mobility ability or how we manage these scooter riders on behalf of the businesses.

I certainly support that.

You know, I'm not for cutting any people off of making money.

But I think we've got to be very careful about what direction that we're trying to take our city and how we want our city to look.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Davis.

Maria, I wanted to ask you about any data you had that might suggest there would be a spillover if we only were to uh impose a curfew or a ban downtown or in midtown.

So there's no data as such, but typically, I mean, speaking from like a parking perspective, if we shut down parking on on certain streets, it always spills over onto the streets that are surrounding.

RPP does this in all neighborhoods.

So you can expect that businesses would move to make sure that they can still, you know, get the same clientele that they were getting before.

So you would, you know, you could see Montrose Heights, um, these neighborhoods start to get impacted, but you know, around uh Rice University, those neighborhoods would start being impacted because that would also be fun to ride around on a scooter, perhaps if you couldn't do it in downtown.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Um don't see anyone else in the queue at this time.

So we will say thank you for the presentation and uh hope to hear back from you soon about what the data is showing.

All right, thank you.

Thank you, Captain, as well.

So we will move to the public comment portion of the meeting.

As it stands now, we have about 15 folks uh signed up to speak.

So what we'll do is give everyone a couple of minutes to offer comment.

And uh we will start with the first person on the list who is Austin Spademan, Austin Spademan.

Would you come forward?

Whichever you like.

That's fine.

All right.

Yes, we can.

Go ahead.

Oh, oh, hey everybody.

It's uh nice to see a lot of familiar faces again.

Uh just for everybody's reference, my name is Austin Speedman.

I'm here representing Byrd, which is one of the largest micromobility companies, both e-scooters and e-bikes in the United States.

We operate in Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas.

Uh, what I'm gonna say, uh I hope doesn't surprise you, but I'm actually in favor of uh what the ARA presented today.

I think you're starting to see uh a framework that's yielding results, but um there's a next step, and and Maria and the R ARA outline that next step.

I just wanted to talk what the future could look like in Houston and uh forgive me for doing a comparison, uh, but Dallas uh is a good example of what uh Houston could use to increase the levers of control on these devices.

Um the the way the process works in Dallas is there's a competitive uh process where vendors need to outline the technology that we can offer.

Uh it's everything that Councillor Martinez outlined.

Geofencing, so the ability to control, can they go into downtown at a certain time, yes or no?

We have to be able to have that technology and prove that that technology works.

Uh there's other things like just where are the devices at any given moment, GPS information.

We need to be able to both have that and actually share it with the city, and that becomes uh a data feed that's available.

Um so, anyhow, uh it the the city goes through, it sees our technology live.

We prove that we can do things like geofence a sidewalk, meaning the device can't ride on the sidewalk.

It will either slow down or provide an audio alert or both.

Um and what that becomes is uh an issuance of a permit.

So in in Dallas, there's three providers allowed in the city.

We're one of those three.

And uh what you get is a lot of control.

So curfew was mentioned, and Councillor Martinez mentioned that Dallas does have a curfew.

What were to happen if one of our devices were to be riding after curfew, the city doesn't need DPD to look at that information.

Uh they have the data feed, so they can see that that scooter's riding after curfew.

What that would become is uh suspension of our service, and after that uh a potential revoke revocation of our permit to operate.

Austin.

Yeah.

Do you want to finish up?

Uh yeah, so all that is to say um you get levers of control, and although the it's gotten better for HPD, I think HBD should be even less involved with the management of e-scooters, so uh data to the city through a shared permit uh would enable uh less police resources to be spent on managing these devices.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Next we'll hear from Dominic Mazark.

I am in the Council Chambers.

Well, come on.

This morning, I got on the 96th, went to the Red Line, walked over to see a friend at Houston Center, then took the uh 40 over here, and coming into downtown, I did vote.

So I was listening to the person ahead of me and and here.

I think one Saturday night I was at the flying saucer, and I decided to take Metro 40 home, the Heights uh telephone route.

And it was Saturday night, and it with all these scooters on the sidewalk.

I felt it like it was the scene at the beginning of uh Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome.

And I really felt scared.

Because if they were riding faster than a car, I think that's another thing you need regulators or governors.

Uh speaking of Metro, I think there's something that this needs to be uh talked about, and I think Metroid needs to be part of this conversation.

This could be first model life mile.

We have curbs curb service.

We have the the golf courts around, which are wonderful things.

Um I'm very much for that.

But maybe this could also be uh use as like a bicycle adjunct or a uh first model life mile.

Uh and if if that's the case, I think as this is going on, maybe there should be a representative from Metro at these meetings, ex officio that can maybe they have some ideas, maybe some other transit agencies around the country.

As an example, we can't take it completely into into Houston like that.

But I think uh we need to have again you want collaboration?

That's great.

Also, too, I'm gonna say on the on the Metro side, the buses are cleaner, the operators seem to be more friendly, the air conditioners are working, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office has officers now at North Line.

So that all those collaborative things are happening.

With that, I have no over.

Great.

Thank you, Dominic.

Lily Krause.

To be followed by Brett Hightower.

Is Lily Krause here?

Great.

You can go ahead.

All right, you can hear me?

Okay.

Good afternoon.

Uh Mayor Whitmeyer, Chair, and members of the committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here and speak with you today.

My name's Lily Krauss, and I'm representing Lyme, uh, the world's largest micromobility company uh with operations in more than 280 cities worldwide.

First, I really want to acknowledge the work of this body and this the that the city has done over the past few months.

We fully understand why council felt compelled to pass the wreaths and ordinance restricting scooter operations.

Things had become unsafe and out of control, and public safety should always come first.

We are aligned there.

Um we appreciate that you acted decisively to protect Houstonians.

Um at the same time, though, over the last several weeks, we've spoken with residents, community leaders, and members of council.

And what we're hearing consistently is that people do want micromobility options in Houston.

They just want it done responsibly.

They want operators who use real technology, real accountability, and real community partnership.

Um that's exactly what cities across the country now require, and it's the standard that Lyme operates under every day.

So with tools like age verification, uh ensuring no one under 18 can ride, sidewalk riding detection and deterrence, which reduces conflicts with pedestrians, advanced geofencing, which prevents riding or parking in sensitive areas, and programs like our Lyme Access, which provides uh deeply discounted fares for low-income riders.

These are the table stakes in well-run micromobility programs today.

Houston's in a unique position because there's no current permitted program.

You have a really rare opportunity here to build something world class from the start.

You can take the best practices from other major cities and design a program that meets your mobility goals, protects public safety, and expands access across the city.

Our ask is simple that the city move forward in drafting and releasing an RFP for a regulated responsible program.

Thank you so much for your time.

All right, thank you.

And we have Councilmember Martinez in the queue.

If you can't do that, sorry.

But in other cities, one of the notes I have down is, for example, in Austin, I think uh in 2023 there was about 14,000 devices that were being um uh permitted.

Um this this this year or in 2024 they reduced it to 6700.

Well, what is the reason for that, do you think?

Um I believe that the reason, I mean, again, public safety.

There were um uh there were there used to be many, many operators there, many more than the two or three that kind of are um now operating in most cities um in the country.

So uh I think just to kind of increase public safety, increase tidiness.

Um we worked really closely with the city on uh permitted parking areas to make sure that we're just continually partnering to make this program um work effectively.

We also look at, you know, ridership data to make sure that the vehicles are actually being utilized.

Um I think all of those uh you see that as uh common theme at in other cities as well?

Uh there's been a reduction in the U.S.

No, that's actually pretty unique.

Um Austin, you know, started off with a a lot of devices, um, as did as did Dallas back in like you know 2018, there were like 40,000 bikes or something that they got to Dallas.

Um I think a lot of cities kind of started smaller and we're seeing them continually grow, but in a framework where both the city and the operators are incentivized to do so responsibly.

So um, you know, usually there's a per trip fee um whereby if an operator is experiencing more trips, the the city is also seeing revenue, increased revenue there.

So it's you there are the salon.

What's the average more or less uh in a central business district for number of scooters depending on how many, of course, operators you have as well?

Um I mean I would say we've looked into what we think is appropriate for Houston.

Um, and we think starting you know with a combined fleet, and also I just want to mention that Lyme is micro, I mean multimodal, so we have scooters, bikes, and seated scooters, and we would uh be thinking about an approach with all three coming to the city.

So um I think starting with a you know around a 3,000 scooter um cap, maybe to begin with, and see how things go um would be appropriate at this time.

Oh so and and I think you mentioned it, but uh I think to be able to have an opportunity to create micromobility and you know, of course, we have we're talking about the entire city, but my focus is you know in district I, which is East Downtown and Downtown.

Um what does that look like?

I I appreciate being able to create something from scratch that works best in you know, through you know, experiences that y'all have already had, uh that other micromobility um organizations have been you know implementing in other cities as well.

Uh so I definitely am interested in in seeing how we can move that framework as quickly as possible.

We are too.

Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry, Councilmember Davis is in the queue as well.

Thank thank you, Brother Chair.

I just wanted to ask um something I looked into with Lyme operating.

Do you in some of the cities that you operate in?

Is it true that I saw where the scooters that allow downtown, but they ride in a street lane and not on sidewalks, like Chicago and some of the other cities, is a designated lane for scooter riders, but not on the sidewalk.

Is that correct?

Yeah, generally in in the vast majority of of U.S.

cities, um there are the regulations uh state that scooters should be ridden scooters, bikes, and all micromobility devices should be ridden in the streets or bike lanes where they're present.

I think a lot of cities have actually also um uh we are able to provide a lot of data to city planners um which has really helped inform future in uh infrastructure decisions in cities as well.

Okay, good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Brett Hightower is next.

He'll be followed by Patrick Saylor.

I'm gonna stand for a moment.

That's fine.

Go ahead.

Thank you all for your time.

Uh I'm Brett.

I'm here on behalf of the legal scooter coalition, which is made up of business operators, which are the largest operators here in the city of Houston are local businesses, uh non-national brands.

Uh all of the companies are within the coalition support this uh safety initiative.

That's been one of the prime talking points amongst all of the business owners is how do we increase pedestrian safety?

Uh one of the main uh solutions for that is the integration of technology.

So we have geofencing, we have uh vetted rider processes, um commercial insurance that takes the city away from the liability, a lot of factors put in place to increase this uh public safety uh initiative.

So all the companies are aligned with it.

Now you have your good operators and you have your bad operators.

So I think the ordinance that we also support is it's really just terminated the bad actors.

So you can't just pop up a 10 on a private lease and then start operating, and you know, you do so with the ill intent just to for profiteering.

What the what the operators within the legal scooter coalition, one of the main concerns for us is feasibility and surviving, pretty much.

So a lot of these local business owners from Houston already have leases.

They already have the investment in the technology, they have the investment in the devices and are willing to put in additional capital infusion and integrating this new technology that we've presented to the ARA, we have presented to uh several council members, and we've also uh sent the presentation to the mayor's office.

The depending on what the trend round looks like for this amendment, if there's an amendment to this ordinance, the curfew is kind of the main issue.

Majority of the business is coming from really from 6 p.m.

is when doors are really opening and people are starting to be interested in and renting the rides, really to about midnight.

And so what you do when you create this curfew for to 8 p.m., you're it's not an all-right ban, but essentially it is, because there's no more revenue in the model for them to be able to survive.

For instance, uh one of the operators, E-Ride has a significant financial commitment on just staying open.

So they they operate under a public model, but also based basically primarily on the headquarters model.

So depending on the turnaround with the city, we're able to keep it to be local businesses because on this trajectory right now, we're going to clear out the local providers and really make room for a national brand to come in, which you know I think would go against the the wishes and the vision of a lot of local council members in this area.

Thank you for that perspective, Brett.

We have Councilmember Martinez in the queue.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh Brett, you you spoke about a timeline.

What's what's a feasible timeline?

Because I think one of the last things that I'd like to see happen is uh local business um pulled away from an opportunity that y'all have been in.

Uh so what does that look like for you?

We are in critical timing.

So we would like to have something at least in on the calendar or an agenda and something that shows that there's uh promising future in the future, probably by the at least by the end of December.

Because come January, well, after December and January, you have two months of rent.

You have labor forces that are employed.

You have scooter uh financing that has to be paid for, but is not having an ROI on it.

Um as the Councilmember Castillo said, uh huge importance is preparing for the World Cup.

Uh that's something that is we're we can take a hit now while we're putting together a pilot program that is acceptable by the council and is voted in.

But if we're able to have a pilot program in to allow operations and do some sort of amendment on the curfew before World Cup, revenue can be made up during World Cup.

So something that has to be in place and acted and operational with enforcement prior to, I would like to say March.

Okay.

That gives us a better understanding.

Because I uh I'll just be quite frank.

I I'm actually been for a framework as of you know early this year.

Um I know the time is of the essence for many of you all.

So uh first and foremost, I want to make sure local businesses are doing well, uh, are a part of this process to whatever extent they can be.

Uh but then secondly, I I think we this is we're long overdue.

I want to make sure that that we're um not just for FIFA, but FIFA is uh a huge concern of mine.

We have folks from all across the world that uh it'll be hard for us to build a culture of what Houston micromobility looks like in downtown and east downtown with thousands of people coming into Houston.

And so the quicker the better.

I'm with I'm with you on that.

Um I'm gonna lean into, of course, uh this the administration, the city staff uh to help uh prioritize that as well.

Um I'd like to see something, quite frankly, next couple weeks as well.

So am I allowed to respond?

Sure.

Okay.

So just in response to that.

So on the operator side, where we were we were ready yesterday.

So the main thing that we're waiting on, and the only real significant delay is gonna be working with the city or some sort of pilot program from the city.

If it were just magically to happen tomorrow, we have the technology and we have the uh scooters with the technology integration ready already right now.

I think the challenge is gonna be it's an RFP, right?

So it's an open proposal for folks, and I and I think we also have to be cognizant of that as well, uh, that it is open to to all.

Um we've we've taught it uh Houston first on a whole bunch of things, right?

Uh so I think y'all need to have an opportunity to be at the table as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Patrick Saylor, to be followed by Veronica Juarez.

Welcome.

Welcome, thank you so much.

Thank you, City Council members.

Um I'm actually a resident of downtown Houston and have been for almost 20 years.

And uh lived in several buildings downtown right now.

I'm at the star on the corner of Van and Rusk.

So uh I see ground zero of uh the scooters.

I I I mean, all the horror stories just just want to say it has been the biggest public safety uh issue that I've seen in downtown Houston in my neighborhood in 20 years.

And to hear that the curfew may might possibly be lifted is just like would be heartbreaking.

Um, in in in rebuttal to the vendors, they were given a chance, wasn't there a city ordinance where they were supposed to make sure that none of the kids were riding the scooter on the sidewalk that didn't had no teeth at all, there was zero enforcement to it.

The problem with the scooters is they go 20 miles an hour.

You can't hear them because they're electric.

They're all over the sidewalks, and it's it's frightening to turn a corner and have a 200-pound 12-year-old doing 20 miles an hour down the sidewalk.

I have a family.

Um I've seen several businesses hurt and uh go out of business downtown Houston.

Um to be honest, the scooters just having been down in this neighborhood for 20 years, um, it has led to an overall uh uh mindset of lawlessness and uh disorder that has I thought I think uh increased the likelihood of the uh of the biker meetups, you know, the dirt bikes that come through, which which honestly I think HPD has done a very good job of of handling lately.

Uh but uh last thing I want to say is um when considering bringing in like a national vendor, someone with like the technological capability.

Uh I heard the last lady say council member asked if if there's the technology to keep the scooters from riding on the sidewalk, what she answered was in many of the cities there are regulations preventing the scooters from riding on the sidewalk.

She didn't answer if the technology would actually keep the scooters from riding on the sidewalk.

If the scooters aren't on the sidewalk, I'm cool with it, but it's just so such a uh public safety issue.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Patrick.

Thank Oh, we have uh excuse me, Patrick, can you come back?

We've got Councilmember Martinez in the queue.

No, I just want to acknowledge uh you being here first and foremost.

Uh when we have these conversations, sometimes they they fall into silos and you know it's trying to pit folks against each other.

I I'm hearing you as a district I resident.

I appreciate you sharing 20 years in downtown.

Um my question to you is uh since the ordinance have you seen anything positive?

I uh I want to also thank uh City Councilmember Ramirez's team for reaching out to me after several emails.

Um I told them it's like being on cloud nine.

I mean it it it's a completely different city.

Um it's very quiet.

I was out of town during the Thanksgiving break, but just those few days, those few nights uh that I we got to spend walking around the sidewalk and and being out there and being able to relax.

Um I mean I literally feel like I'm looking over my shoulder constantly when the when the scooters are out there.

So I mean it's it I I and then with the the new Main Street program coming up and with with the work that's being done there, it just seems like it would be such a uh such a shame to to uh to bring and it is ninety-nine percent joy riders.

To to call it micro-mobility, I think is uh insincere because yes, the kids trying to get from home to school, that's one thing, absolutely, but but it's just joy riding.

And at one point the the uh the the vendors were had mario karts out on the street, literally go-karts like on the city streets of downtown Houston.

I mean, that was stopped quickly, but thank you so much.

And just my last my last question.

Um you would be okay with us having some kind of framework that had speed governors that had geofencing that provided us with age restrictions, things that we probably see work in other major cities in the state.

Definitely more open to that than just an outright free-for-all.

Mad Max was like the perfect example.

Um I would say be beware because I I do travel to Dallas and Austin, San Antonio, and there are scooters all not writing, but just derelict scooters all over the sidewalk.

It's kind of an ISOR, and again, I think even during the the the time that it is geofense and able to uh use it, it's still mostly done for joy riding.

Thank you.

Thank you, Patrick.

Veronica Juarez, to be followed by Peter Eccles.

Good afternoon, Councilmembers, and thank you for creating space for us to have this conversation today.

My name is Veronica Juarez.

Transparently I represent the company Lyme, but I am also here to make my comments as a proud and native Houstonian.

I moved back to Houston to start my investment firm.

I invest in companies founded by Houstonians.

I hire Houstonians.

I invest in social enterprises.

I sit on the Sit Sit Center for Houston's Future Vision 2050 board.

I give grants to nonprofits from my family foundation.

You could say I'm long on Houston and Houston's future.

Each year, we lose 60 percent of all tech companies that are started in Houston, and we lose them to other competitive markets.

One way that we close that gap is by offering services and benefits that other cities offer, like micromobility options, like multimodal transportation.

Councilmember Davis, I hear you that Houston is not like every other city.

But unfortunately, I think the only example of scooter use that we've seen in Houston is joy riding.

We have not seen a true micromobility program.

Seventy percent of all rides that happen on the Lyme platform are non-recreational.

That means that they are being used to go to work, to home, for to an appointment.

And I think this is really important because we can we can regulate for that.

I also know this to be true because I live in Montrose, and every night I walk my dog, I see people using bikes.

And those people are night shift workers leaving their restaurant jobs to get home.

So we should also provide regulation for them to be able to use that service.

I recognize that you all have to maintain public safety for the entire city.

And I also think we're in a really unique position and opportunity to create regulation that would allow for public safety, allow for some pilots in certain cities with vehicle caps and GPS um geofencing so that you know our resident here doesn't have to still experience what he has experienced downtown.

And I just want to say I'm personally committed to staying at the table with you as you continue to create this policy.

Thank you for your service.

Um we have Councilmember Davis in the queue.

Thank you.

Thank you for uh your presentation and explanation of that.

And I I certainly embraced the fact that there is something that you can bring to the table because certainly I'm for expanding technology because it does draw an economy into our city.

And if that's something that can be submitted, I would love to see it, love to know about it, I'm sure as well as some of my other colleagues.

And and uh I think it would be good as business for our city.

But uh you made the point only that it's something to protect the public safe and not just make it joyriding.

And I think that that's very um uh uh admitable.

So I'd like to look at of you would you know contact me or I'll talk to you.

I like to look at some of that.

Absolutely.

Right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Peter Eccles to be followed by Abe Levits.

Welcome.

You can go ahead.

Afternoon.

Uh Chair Ramirez, um council members.

My name is Peter Eccles, and I'm here representing Link Houston.

We advocate for a robust and equitable transportation network so all people can reach opportunity.

And micromobility devices like e-scooters are a growing part of that transportation network.

They're affordable.

They help relieve pressure on our congested streets and polluted air, and they help put more jobs, schools, and other opportunities in reach for Houstonians.

Umicromobility is something to embrace, not to ban or unduly restrict.

We encourage the city of Houston to work towards making micromobility safer and more effective for everyone by developing a comprehensive framework for their operation to require safety features like speed governors and geofencing, uh to invite a world-class, well-regulated micromobility share system such as those offered by the previous speakers, um, and to help keep scooters off of our sidewalks and busy thoroughfares by building a complete network of lanes for bike scooters and other my micromobility devices.

We appreciate the council members who have made similar suggestions and are hopeful that discussions like this one and the current civic discourse around scooters will pave the way for a safe and effective regulatory environment for scooter rentals in Houston, one that ensures their safe operation and that these rented scooters can be used for actual mobility trips from point A to point B.

One that ensures their safe operation and that these rented scooters can be used for actual mobility trips from point A to point B.

Uh but in the immediate term, there are some glaring issues with the ordinance uh that was passed on November 19th that must be addressed with the same urgency that this was passed in the first place.

As currently enacted, these restrictions are far too broad by including e-scooters that are owned by individuals under the same blanket regulations.

This ordinance subjects too many Houstonians, low-income Houstonians in particular, to a brand new form of probable cause for simply making routine trips at off hours.

By applying these restrictions to the entire city, this ordinance subjects commuters all over town to indiscriminate enforcement of something that by all indications is a downtown problem.

This ordinance raises serious civil liberties concerns that will disproportionately affect low-income Houstonians who rely on scooters to get around.

Hoping it will be enforced responsibly is not sufficient.

I urge this council to resolve them before any unintended consequences occur.

Thanks for the opportunity to provide these feedbacks and thanks in particular to Councilmember Ramirez for rightfully pointing out how little time there was to provide meaningful feedback on this ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you, Peter.

I I appreciate that.

Um question.

So there's been discussion about speed governors, and and usually that's in relation to a national company coming in.

Um but we we have the the uh you know a lot of people own their own scooters, right?

And so how how do we reconcile the the speed governor with the private ownership of scooters?

Do you have any any thoughts on that?

But uh I would start by seeing I'm saying I'm yet to see any evidence that scooters that are privately owned by individuals for their personal transportation to be involved in the sort of joyriding that people are talking about.

Um secondly, uh I mean they're the regulations around speed for personally owned vehicles, I think are generally under state regulations rather than the city.

The Texas Transportation Code sets aside the different classes of device and how fast they're allowed to go and whether or not you're supposed to have a driver's license for them.

Um defer to on that matter.

Yeah, and and and I do agree with you that I think most of the reckless behavior that, or maybe all of it, the reckless behavior that people were complaining about was related to uh scooters that that had been rented.

At least that was my perception.

I don't know how others feel about that.

But I appreciate your your perspective.

Thanks very much.

Thanks for the opportunity.

Abe Levitz to be followed by Edgar Gonzalez.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for your time today.

Um I want to first start by saying one of the things that I think is really unique about Estonians is they take care of other Houstonians.

Um we've been in business uh since 2019 and been successfully operating in Houston.

I think we're probably one of the largest operators in Houston.

When the topic came up about the potential ban and the safety concerns, we took it very seriously.

Uh since that time, uh we've improved safety measures within our storefront.

We have flown out large uh commercial uh commercial scooter develop um uh manufacturers from China and spent considerable time with them about creating an infrastructure in town that will create geofencing and also allow for speed regulation and to make sure that our uh scooter scooter inventory that we have invested heavily in already is able to immediately meet uh any kind of uh regulation that the council and the city is looking at.

Uh our team also flew to China and just spent 45 days there talking to the different manufacturers about making sure that the technology in the scooters and the production lines are available to us so that we could immediately implement uh any type of regulatory framework that is currently in discussion.

I want to start by saying a national company coming in here will put us out of business.

This current ban, currently the way that it's um it's framed with the with the time constraints and the curfew is putting us out of business.

We want to stay in business, we want to save uh micromobility for Houston, but we want to do it sensibly and obviously with safety at the forefront.

I think working in partnership with you and going along any kind of RFP format or some real discussion about maintaining the business being in the city of Houston is 100% possible.

We have the same technology as they do.

We have the same scooters that these national companies do, but we're locals and we can keep our 50-plus employees plus the other scooter rental companies in town that can adhere to these regulatory um um intentions.

I think we can maintain a sense of business and stay alive.

So I'd ask that the council and the mayor please consider keeping the business locally.

We can meet any of these um frameworks and and and regulatory considerations, and we can be proactive and get something in place before the uh Houston World Cup.

Okay, thank you, Abe, uh, for sharing your perspective.

And and I hope you'll share what other whatever information you gathered uh with ARA.

Yes, sir.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Edgar Gonzalez to be followed by Robert Groby.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Edgar.

I am the manager for ERA Scooter Rentals, and I'm here to represent as a representative for 50 employees who work with our uh in our company.

Um I am speaking as a worker and uh speaking for other workers who are scared to lose their jobs, right?

For the last two weeks, because of the curfew, our hours and our incomes have decreased significantly that the company does not have enough to pay for your payroll, right?

Basically, they are paying out of pocket to keep our 50 employees with us, right?

And I want you uh to understand what this means for us.

50 is not just a number, it is um 50 families, 50 car payments, 50 rents, 50 grocery bills.

Uh most of us are living from paycheck to paycheck.

Some of our coworkers are supporting kids, parents, families back home.

When our hours are cut back, it leaves us wondering can I pay my rent this month?

Can I afford to even go to work, right, to pay gas?

What am I am I going to do?

What uh what if I'm going to do if I lose my job?

Ninety percent of our customers come after 8 p.m.

That is when downtown is alive, is open, and um families come out after dinner, after games, after events, right?

Right now, with this curfew, it is basically forcing the decision on us and you either we operate responsibly after eight, or we have to effectively fire 50 people.

And no one wants to say we decided to put 50 people off of work.

But that is the real impact of this um policy.

Right.

You we are not against the rules.

We care about the safety too.

We are the ones out there every single day explaining to customers um the safety of the scooters.

We're explaining to them where they can ride, where they cannot ride.

And um we're we're keeping this tidewalks clear from the front of our store, right?

Um we're again we want to be part of the solution.

We don't want to be treated as a problem.

And if you guys do letters operate after those certain times, we are we will effectively keep all of our employees.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing that perspective.

Um I'm just kind of curious.

Um obviously downtown had been inundated with scooters prior to the council acting, and there have been a number of businesses in the downtown area renting scooters and a number number of parking lot operations.

Uh, how long have have you been in the business?

Uh been uh mostly day started, so it um been over a little bit four over three or four years now.

So how did how do you think this all got started?

Which which came first, the uh the vendors offering the scooters for rent or what how how did this get started?

Um can you rephrase your question?

Well, I mean, ten years ago we probably didn't have any scooters in downtown.

More recently, you know, we had thousands of scooters every weekend night.

How did that how did that happen?

Well, yeah, it's correct.

Uh people see scooters outside, people will question, hey, where did you get those scooters, right?

And then they mention where you get them from people that come as to uh their tour in the city, people that are not from here, they do stop some of our customers to ask them, hey, where did you get your scooters from?

And they redirect them to us.

They show them um they go to our store and then they basically how that's how they find us.

And um you you guys were active here downtown.

Were there other areas of the city where you think uh people would have ridden scooters or or not?

Um so the down typically from what I see the downtown is in any city, downtown is basically the first place that they go to, right?

Because it is what represents Houston or whatever major city.

The downtown is the basically what is what pops out most of the time, right?

So um and not as I haven't necessarily seen any other locations where the scooters rent the scooters are as big as the downtown area.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Robert Groby to be followed by Kevin Strickland.

Welcome.

Thank you.

My name is Robert Groby, and I've lived in East Downtown for almost 10 years now, and I work in downtown two of the areas most heavily impacted by scooter usage.

2.3 million Houstonians should not bow to the interests of Houston first.

My neighbors, my friends that live in third ward should not have to defend how they move around because of the interest of the businesses and hotels downtown.

They don't have anything to do with each other.

If there's an issue with what's happening outside of a hotel downtown, we should address it, but we should not force the rest of the city to bow down to these special interests.

And I would encourage all of us to reject the notion that moving around for recreation makes you any less deserving of the right to choose how you do so.

When I walk around downtown, I don't have to defend why I'm there.

Why, if I'm on a scooter, do I have to defend where I've come from or where I'm going to?

I'm not here to defend reckless behavior.

I'm here to defend joy and the right to enjoy the city.

If we need to address reckless behavior, let's use the technology that's available, speed governors, geofencing, whatever sort of reputable businesses y'all might determine to be reputable.

But let's not punish the whole city.

And they were really concerned about the outright ban, and so I appreciate the positive steps that have been made.

But I would encourage y'all to continue this engagement.

Um I I recognize that y'all said it's a first step, but y'all have already put these rules in place, and so it's hard to really accept that this is a first step as opposed to the step, and now we're having to figure out what else is to be done.

Thank you.

Thank you, Robert.

Kevin Strickland to be followed by Ricky Cardenas.

Good afternoon.

I'm Kevin Strickland, co-founder of walk and roll Houston, a nonprofit community organization working to create a city where Houstonians can walk and roll safely and easily as we need.

I biked here.

I wasn't entirely sure if it was legal.

Uh full disclosure, I biked on the sidewalks downtown because it's not safe to bike on the streets downtown.

So let's keep that in mind.

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

The scooter ban is ridiculous.

For the mayor to claim it's among the city's number one security risk is ridiculous.

For city council to go along with yet another one of his bans is also ridiculous.

For city council members to say the ordinance had been discussed at length with no pushback is completely false.

Councilmember Ramirez tagged the ordinance for exactly this reason.

It was dropped on a Friday and then voted on Wednesday.

Thank you for giving us this time.

He says things like these people are not from here.

There are drugs and guns.

No facts to support that.

A reminder that Texas is an open carry state.

Most of the people on the scooters downtown are black and brown kids.

Each month, 30 Houstonians are killed in car crashes.

One-third of those people were walking.

None of them were killed by kids on micro-mobility devices.

Hundreds of Houstonians have come to City Council to demand that HPD stop non-safety traffic stops.

Councilmember Plummer even proposed an ordinance to do that.

You've now turned around and done the opposite.

You've given HPD more opportunities to send Hispanic people to ice.

I didn't think the day would come when Councilmember Shabazz and I would agree on something, but I very much appreciate very much appreciate you pointing out the risk to people.

And as Peter Eccles said, the civil liberty risk.

Thank you, Kevin.

Ricky to be followed by Adib Baghdadi.

Stuck in there.

Hello, members of the Quality of Life Committee.

Um thank you for allowing this opportunity to speak on the scooter ban and the safety of Houstonians.

My name is Ricky Cardinas, and I arrive here by Metro Rail.

It has been stated by many that Houston grows by roughly 700 700,000 commuters every day, every weekday.

The vast majority of them currently only have the option to get around our city by car or truck.

If we focus solely on restricting e-scooter usage, we're missing the bigger picture of safety for all Houstonians.

Scooters are only dangerous when the streets themselves are unsafe.

Limiting their usage does not protect people from reckless drivers speeding vehicles or unsafe streets.

Since 2023, there have been either two, three, or four uh deaths due to scooters, depending on where you look.

Um compared to 635 fatalities at the hands of drivers in the Houston area during that same period.

Most of these scooters are capped at 15 to 20 miles per hour, yet uh traffic deaths from drivers continue to reach record highs, even outpacing homicides.

Clearly, the problem isn't scooters.

It's unsafe streets and drivers who ignore the rules of the road.

The city needs a reliable and responsible shared scooter and bike vendor.

But securing such a program only works if our streets are safe for people to use these devices for commuting.

Without safe streets, scooters and bikes are relegated to recreational use rather than a true alternative for everyday travel.

The World Cup is coming, and many fans visiting the Houston visiting Houston are used to attending matches without relying on massive parking lots.

They expect to walk, bike, or take transit to stadiums.

A dependable micromobility system only works if we prioritize the safety of people over the speed of drivers.

If we want real safety, we should regulate uh vehicle speeds in high pedestrian areas, hold speeding and distracted drivers accountable, and create designated safe spaces for scooters and bikes.

Restricting e-scooters is a band-aid solution.

It does nothing for the people at risk every day on Houston streets.

Uh in closing, I'd like to ask that you prioritize the safety of people over simply banning micromobility.

Uh Houstonians deserve it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ricky.

Adib Baghdadi to be followed by My Sum Perez or Pervez.

Good afternoon.

My name is Adib Baghdadi, and I run a local scooter business here in Houston.

We would like to cooperate with the city of Houston to pursue its public safety goals and work on a mandate safety measures such as helmets, advanced geofencing technology, and data sharing so Houston can enjoy scooters and still have a safe street.

I'm asking for a simple amendment to the operating hours.

If this blanket curfew stays at it is, it will shut down local businesses like us and put push operators towards bankruptcy and put many of our employees out of work.

Our scooters can be fully controlled with the technology.

We can geofence them.

This is just for the reference.

You guys can see.

It's just an example.

We can geofence them, speed limits, and control exactly where and when they can be used.

We can also share data with the city for any public concerns or any like improving the uh safety measurements.

Applying a blanket curfew is not a cost-effective way to handle this problem because it still requires HBD officers to be on the ground.

Don't put local businesses and local employees out of business.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

My son Pervez to be followed by Ashton Delcey.

Good afternoon.

Um I own a local business in Houston.

Uh both scooters.

We've been running business since 2021.

Uh we have a couple locations.

We are under lease.

Uh when this ban was uh announced that day, 89% of our business revenue got taken away.

Um, of course, we comply with the city.

We we make sure that uh there's no rental of the scooters uh from that day.

We have currently 17 employees.

That's asking literally every day, hey, can I get my hours back?

And we're not able to afford and give them those hours.

We have uh the the only thing uh uh I would like as a city that this is gonna be a uh a debate between the national brand and the local business, right?

Um national brand like Bird and Lyme, they've been here uh every single meeting.

They've been through major problems with major cities.

Like Dallas, they were shut down for for two years because they couldn't control themselves.

San Antonio, Austin, the fleet has shut has been taken away by 50 percent or more.

Um solution, it's not a national national brand, because they have about 200 debt in the micromobility business since 2018.

And if you look at Houston, and with the numbers, the data that's been shared, it's about six, right?

Which is still bad.

Uh the only thing is with controlling who we rent the scooters to and who can get it from our from our stores, helps prevent those numbers compared to the national brand.

Because the national brand is going to come in, anyone can scan the app, get the scooter, and get going.

If it's a kid, they can ask their parents to scan the act or or their friend to scan the app and get going.

Um so they don't really have any any sightseeing of the scooters.

But we as a local brand, as a local store, we do have that.

We control who comes in, who goes out, and we control who we rent the scooters to that's all I have to say.

Yep.

Okay.

Thank you for that.

Appreciate it.

Ashton Delse.

Good afternoon, good afternoon, Council members.

My message here today is going to be just very brief.

Um I just want to say the not stifle entrepreneurship in Houston.

You know, three years ago, I had my corporate job, have MBA in finance working for one of the largest accounting firms in the world.

And like many founders in Houston, you know, I decided to take a risk and got out of my corporate job.

Three years ago, I also had the technology that many of the bigger companies you see sitting um represented right here today, uh, talk about.

Three years ago, I was able to geofence, I was able to do lane detection.

I was able to verify a writer's age, and I still have the technology today.

So another part of my message is also before all of the major companies are conceded, like the Limes and the Birds, do not forget the entrepreneurs in Houston like me who have invested, who have made the sacrifice, and give us a piece of the pie.

Do not make the permitting fees or whatever you have to do so exorbitant that it literally puts us out of business.

And like um one of the young ladies said here today, Houston loses so many businesses, you know, to other cities who make it more friendly to operate.

So let's not start that precedence in Houston because I'll tell you something.

I am at the ion almost every day.

We have so many startups and founders in the technology space, in the oil and gas space.

And if that is the situation we're creating in Houston where as a founder, you have to worry about the city council coming down with a harm on you.

We're going to take our businesses to elsewhere, like people like me have decided to take my business out of the country and into other cities.

Thank you.

Uh hold on a minute.

Uh sir.

Thank you for that perspective.

Councilmember Alcorn.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, sir, for coming.

And and for the the people uh from the smaller companies, scooter companies coming.

Um does uh uh I mean we're obviously gathering data and we're going to come up with a framework to to have micromobility.

That's what a lot of us want.

Um there was a situation downtown that had gotten out of control and and there was the need to do something.

But now we're taking this time to analyze data and to figure out what the next steps are.

What what would report you said something interesting to me about the city making sure there was a piece of the pie given to local vendors?

How does that look like?

I mean, is that done in other cities when when a Lyme or a bird comes in?

Is there is there a a piece that can go to local business or or it I think what I heard the other um the person speaker before you say is if Lyme and Bird come in, we're done.

Like people will just pick up the scooters and do the app and they won't they won't come to to rent from us.

But but how when you said a piece of the a piece of the pie to the local vendors, and I do appreciate local entrepreneurs and local businesses.

So what does that look like or how could that look?

I think part of what that looks like is I think if you look at other cities, the the permitting fees are so exorbitant, you really have to have the pockets to even start, right?

You have to be able to operate in so many different cities in terms of meeting the requirements to operate.

So all I'm saying is when we look at maybe amendments to the ordinance or when we look at future steps, and I know we said we're just having a discussion, this is just a a first step.

Do not do not do not implement any solution in such a way that startups stifle, right?

I mean as of as of right now, even just the hours, and I'm I I could I could speak for other businesses too, and they're quite right, you know.

8 o'clock cut off, basically you should you're putting people out of business, you know.

So but I want to address your question by saying remember the small businesses, and that is my point today.

Whether it's 5,000, do not make it 50,000 or 100,000 to pay the city to get a permit.

You know.

And said thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilmember Martinez.

Yeah, I just had a quick question.

You said that you had the technology two, three years ago to be able to do that.

Have you been using it?

Yes.

So I have had the technology for for for a little over three years now.

I have been out around Discovery Green.

A lot of people who know me have seen me testing my geofencing technology.

My technology is ready to go.

It's ready to go.

Correct.

Have your scooters been utilizing that technology, geofencing speed governors?

Yes.

So my scooters have been utilizing that technology.

Unfortunately, because I have been so advanced compared to where the city is, I have had to remove a lot of them from my fleet.

So you haven't been utilizing them then.

I have been using some of them, but I have had to take a lot of them out of my fleet because of the way the city of Houston operates.

Um the city of Houston does not allow scooters to be dropped off on the sidewalks.

Um my business model is not designed to be as um housed in a brick and mortar.

My my business model is designed to be similar to what Lyme and how Bird operates.

And I have the very same technology.

I have the application.

I can literally bring my scooter inside of here and let somebody write it and let you see that it wouldn't even cross inside of here.

We have the technology.

We need the city of Houston to catch up with us and and facilitate you know an environment where we could operate and be profitable as as businesses.

So uh I think one of the biggest things and the reason why we are where we are is because there's hasn't been speed governors really.

There hasn't been geofencing being used because they're everywhere, wrong side of the street, sidewalks, Discovery Green.

Uh that's why we are where we are.

I do want to acknowledge and I appreciate you being here because I I agree with you.

I think we need to make sure that local businesses have an opportunity to also participate in whatever whatever way possible.

Um so how how quickly what is that turnaround look like for you?

I had to ask the question for the other local uh vendor.

What does that look like for you to be able to stay in business?

Uh what it was gonna look like for me to be able to stay in business is one is to extend um the hours.

I do not think you know uh people who uh you know, so many people have alluded to that.

You know, there are people who responsibly ride scooters.

As a business, you know, you cannot have such hours.

The peak time for scooters happens around a little after six.

So literally, this is this amendment has literally killed businesses.

That is just the honest truth.

There's no way any of those businesses are going to s survive in downtown Houston, you know, with with those hours.

So it's just a matter of time.

Yeah.

You know, and um you mentioned speed speed governors.

I've had that technology for three years.

We have the technology ready to go.

My startup company, but the city of Houston does not allow us to operate.

I could I I could put stalls where people could unlock lock the scooters.

If you under 18, you have the way my technology works, you have to scan your ID scan of fish.

But at the current currently you have a brick and mortar, no, currently I do not have a brick and mortar.

Is what you were doing?

Correct.

Correct.

And and and as of now, I cannot operate.

And unlike many people mentioned, hey, everybody has bills.

You know, you basically cleaning uh killing people's livelihoods, you know.

And we want to work with the city of Houston, but at least we need to have a conversation where we could all come to an amicable um solution.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Uh Ashton, I've got a question for you.

Thank you, Councilmember Martinez.

So if um if the restrictions in the curfews were only downtown, would you move your operation to another part of the city or not?

Well, as an entrepreneur, you always try to figure out creative ways to run your business.

Um I understand that you know there may be uh uh a question of whether there's going to be a a spillover.

And obviously I will operate my business where there are more favorable conditions.

Um I I don't think it's a matter of just remaining in in one location.

Have you identified any particular other areas where the conditions would be favorable?

I I'd rather not disclose that at least at this time.

Okay.

Thank you.

We do have one uh Jeff Kaplan online.

Are you there with us, Jeff?

Jeff.

All right.

We'll we'll come back.

Is there anyone here in the chamber who would like to speak but who is not signed up?

Okay.

Jeff Kaplan will give you one more chance.

Are you online, Jeff?

Okay.

All right.

Um that is all of our folks who have signed up to speak.

So appreciate everyone being here and especially ARA for their presentation.

And uh we will have another quality of life meeting this Thursday, unrelated to uh scooters, but welcome, welcome, uh encourage you to to to uh tune in.

Thank you.

Bye now.