The City of Sacramento Police and Public Works Departments on Nov. 19 will begin enforcement of all traffic and parking laws for users of shared rideables such as e-bikes and e-scooters. The enforcement begins after months of education and outreach by the City while residents and visitors became used to the new devices.
“The City continues to be excited about the additional transportation options, but we want to ensure that all shared scooter/bike riders know and follow all traffic laws,” said Jennifer Donlon Wyant, the City’s transportation planning manager.
Sacramento Police officers will be actively looking for traffic or vehicle code violations beginning Tuesday and could cite users of the devices. Parking Enforcement officers from Public Works will begin reporting parking violations to device operators, who may choose to pass those costs on to the individuals who improperly parked the devices.
“Because they were new devices, we wanted to do ample education before issuing citations,” said Sacramento Police Capt. Norm Leong. “The move to enforcement sends a clear message that we’re serious about creating an environment that will be safe for pedestrians, shared rideable users and drivers.”
“This is the first time we’ll be doing parking enforcement on shared rideables and our primary focus will be devices that impede public safety,” said Public Works Parking Manager Matt Eierman.
The City requires shared-rideable operators to provide user education about rules and regulations of shared rideables. Violations such as scooting on sidewalks may result in citations of up to $207. Companies may receive a citation of $27.50 for an incorrectly parked device. See a complete list of all shared rideable regulations as well as information about where to park.
The City currently hosts two operating permits for Lime and JUMP to operate 1,920 shared rideable devices. Although most devices are used within downtown and midtown, the City requires companies to deploy 20 percent of their fleet in disadvantaged communities.