Lime electric scooters by Joe Flood licensed under Creative Commons.

There are now rules for how dockless scooters, bicycles, and other “shared mobility devices” can operate in Fairfax County. This week the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed Chapter 86 to “regulate the operation of Shared Mobility Devices offered for hire within the County to ensure safe, reliable, adequate, and efficient service.”

Shared mobility devices include bicycles, e-bikes, and any motor-powered skateboard or scooter. Some of the key takeaways from Fairfax County’s new ordinance are:

  • There’s a $1,000 permit fee for companies to operate a fleet of shared mobility devices, plus a $28 annual fee per device.
  • A maximum of 300-600 shared mobility devices are allowed per permittee. Companies are initially allowed 300 devices, and if they can prove each vehicle is used at least three times a day for a three-month period, they can add an additional 75-150 vehicles, up to 600 total. The county will make this assessment on a quarterly basis.
  • Devices can be ridden on highways, sidewalks, shared-use paths, roadways, or crosswalks, but they must be parked in an area “that does not impede normal car or foot traffic.” Scooter speed is capped at 10 mph.
  • The county has robust revocation authority if companies don’t abide by the guidelines.

At previous meetings, some residents and officials expressed concern about abandoned and vandalized vehicles. Chapter 86 gives the Director of the Fairfax County Department of Cable and Consumer Services the authority to revoke permits if the devices aren’t picked up.

Tysons Transportation Management Association Director Ronit Dancis raised concerns about the maximum fleet size at a public hearing on November 19: “It is likely to fall short for a county the size and population of Fairfax. We understand that the ordinance does allow for some growth on a quarterly basis, but are concerned that a limit of 600 will not be sufficient to meet Tysons’ needs.”

Another key component to the ordinance is monthly data collection from mobility device providers on the number of rides and active customers, injury and crash data, and the number and location of devices towed from the county. Data collection will specifically be gathered in “high density” areas like Tysons, Reston, and the Mosaic District. The board will reconvene in 2021 to assess the data they have collected over the past year.

The county had until January 1, 2020 to provide laws or pilot programs for shared mobility devices, or else companies would have been able to operate without regulations. The Department of Cable and Consumer Service along with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) drafted the addendum. Other local counties and jurisdictions in Northern Virginia have already put some form of shared mobility laws or pilot plans in place.

Image by Fairfax County.

The county hopes clear rules on the books will help it manage and monitor the devices, and jurisdictions like Tysons can also add their own ordinances or contracts for services.

Some businesses are enthusiastic about scooters

Tysons, whose mission is to go from car-dependent edge city to a genuine urban center, is particularly interested in making other modes of transportation viable. To reach its goal, Tysons needs to make a variety of non-automotive modes of transportation available for people to get around the city, particularly in areas that aren’t served by transit but have stations that are reachable by bike or scooter.

Dancis testified before the Board of Supervisors on behalf of the Tysons Partnership on November 19, saying “We view e-scooters as an effective means to help increase Metro ridership and reduce single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips around Tysons.”

Paymon Hadjiesmaeiloo, a managing partner at the Tysons Biergarten and Hops N Shine, also testified about the benefits of e-scooters in Tysons.

“My partner and I have owned the bier garden in Tysons for the past four years. We’ve seen the development and all the new developers coming onto Tysons, whether it’s retail, hotels condominiums or residential we see that it’s become overly crowded,” Hadjiesmaeiloo said during testimony. “As development grows, so does traffic.”

Hadjiesmaeiloo points out the cost-effectiveness and time-saving factor of scooters in other areas of the county: “I have many business owners in Arlington who are my close friends and they have expressed to me how scooters have increased their sales (and) alleved traffic,” Hadjiesmaeiloo said.

Tysons has an ever-looming 2050 goal of making the surrounding area walkable and encourage other modes of transportation. With the tenth anniversary of the comprehensive plan coming in January, a program encouraging shared mobility devices could help the area reach its goals.

Right now shared mobility companies can apply for permits, but no services can be provided until the ordinance goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

  • Tysons Partnership

This article is part of our ongoing coverage of Tysons underwritten by the Tysons Partnership and community partners. Greater Greater Washington maintains full editorial independence over its content.

George Kevin Jordan was GGWash's Editor-in-Chief. He is a proud resident of Hillcrest in DC's Ward 7. He was born and raised in Milwaukee and has written for many publications, most recently the AFRO and about HIV/AIDS issues for TheBody.com.