TAMPA, Fla. — If you enjoy zipping through Tampa on an electric scooter, expect to see some changes rolling out this week.
Since April 2019, the city of Tampa has had electric scooters available to help riders make the "last mile" of their commute. The scooters have been contracted with the city through a pilot program that has been extended multiple times.
Next week, the city of Tampa will end its pilot program and enter into a full rollout of the program. This includes bringing e-scooters into every corner of Tampa.
As a part of this full rollout, a total of 4,000 electric scooters will be available throughout the city of Tampa. Through the city’s new contracts, you shouldn’t be seeing scooters left in the middle of a sidewalk anymore.
"One of the biggest changes you're going to see as a dock-to-dock operating system," Austin Britt, the city's parking and planning coordinator, explained. "And with that, we are going to be requiring that our operators start and end every vehicle ride in a dock."
Keeping scooters docked while not in use will fall on the riders. In order to end a ride, the scooter must be parked at a designated parking corral. The rider could face a fine for failing to bring it to a parking location. Riders can also receive an in-app credit for returning scooters parked in unauthorized areas to parking areas. If a corral is full, riders may have to drive their scooter a bit farther away.
"The rider will not be penalized, they will be directed to the next closest corral to drop off their vehicle," Britt said. "We will be deploying even more corrals throughout the City so there will be plentiful opportunities to pick-up and drop-off a vehicle in a location that is near or convenient to your destination."
The city of Tampa recently terminated its e-scooter contracts with LIME and BIRD.
SPIN and a new company, Helbiz, are a part of the new program starting next week.
In the city's new contracts, SPIN and Helbiz must respond to concerns within 24 hours. The penalty if they're found to not uphold their contract: termination.
"Absolutely. Yeah, that is absolutely an option that's on the table if they don't comply with the terms of the contract," Britt explained after saying the city will work to address issues with the companies before escalating a contract violation to termination.
Tampa decided to terminate contracts with LIME and BIRD e-scooters, in part, because the city wanted to work with companies that could ensure scooters stayed out of areas they didn't belong, like the Hillsborough River or blocking sidewalks.
"It wasn't the sole determining factor, but it was definitely one of the factors that they were scored against," Britt said.
This new rollout and changes in contracts and companies come after more than 200 electric scooters were removed from the Hillsborough River over the last 2 years. The scooters were removed by the nonprofit organization Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, despite the responsibility of removing the scooters being the contractual obligation of the scooter companies.
The city of Tampa says these new contracts better allow the city to hold scooter companies to higher standards.
Next week, Tampa City Council is expected to vote on the full rollout. Later this week, new Helbiz scooters will be deployed throughout Tampa.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.