Electric scooters are now in Beloit. An electric scooter company, Bird, started renting the scooters in Beloit on July 30th.

The Beloit City Council in June approved an ordinance that governs the use of e-scooters in Beloit. The scooters will be available through a mobile phone application and riders pay to use the scooter per minute.

The operation of the Bird scooters is geofenced to the City of Beloit boundaries, which means there are digital boundaries around the city limits. This limits and controls where the scooter travels. Each scooter has a GPS that is tracked by Bird. If the scooter goes outside of the City of Beloit’s municipal boundaries, the scooter will automatically slow down to 1 mph.

Bird requires scooter users to be age 18 or older.

The following are some basic rules (for more detailed information, please see City of Beloit Ordinance 13.085 & 18.02(2m)):

 Users are highly encouraged to wear helmets
 Speed limit is 15 miles per hour and 10 miles per hour on multi-use paths.
 Scooters cannot be operated on City of Beloit roads with a speed limit over 25 miles per hour
 Users must comply with all traffic regulations as drivers would in a motor vehicle
 Users must yield to pedestrians in crosswalks
 Must not be operated on a sidewalk

Parking Rules
• Electric scooters shall be parked upright in a neat and orderly manner
• Electric scooters may be parked at the following locations:
o Docking station
o Bicycle rack
o Designated shared scooter parking
o Geofenced parking location
o Private property with permission of property owner
o Sidewalks in some circumstances
• Electric scooters must be parked without:
o Blocking pedestrian access on a sidewalk
o Reducing the clear width of a sidewalk to less than 60 inches
o Blocking a crosswalk or access to a crosswalk, driveway or private road
o Violating the Americans with Disability Act
o Blocking vehicular traffic on streets or alleys
o Threatening public safety or security
o Being placed on bicycle ways, bicycle lanes or multi-use paths

The City of Beloit encourages use of the terrace for parking.  This company is bringing the scooters at no cost to the City of Beloit. All user fees are directly provided to Bird.

The company plans on offering scooters to residents and visitors in order to help reduce carbon emissions, as well as traffic congestion on roadways. The scooters offer residents
without automobiles another transportation option. “Scooters make for a useful way to bridge the gap between public transportation and a person’s home or work,” said Beloit City Manager Lori Curtis Luther. “More transportation options can bring a lot of benefits to the city.”