A revised ordinance has been drawn up that would set the stage for allowing electric scooters in Chattanooga.
City Council members did not indicate when - or if - they would consider the ordinance prepared by the City Transportation Department with input from several city agencies.
An initial ordinance was presented to the council last fall, but several council members indicated strong reservations about allowing the scooters.
Blythe Bailey, city transportation director, said the new ordinance takes into account input from council members and others. He said this document was much improved over the original.
The new ordinance would allow a company to deploy up to 300 electric scooters in the Urban Overlay District (includes downtown, North Chattanooga and Hill City, east to Missionary Ridge and south to the Georgia line).
Councilman Darrin Ledford, told there are 4-6 scooter companies, said, "That could be up to a thousand scooters."
A representative of Lime Electric Scooters said some cities, including Knoxville, have used an RFP process to choose just one company to work with.
She said for a city the size of Chattanooga, the number deployed would need to be at least 300 initially.
The representative said Lime charges $1 to unlock a scooter and 15 cents a minute afterward. For those who live in public housing the charge would be 50 cents to unlock and seven cents a minute.
The scooters would not be allowed on public sidewalks, but could be on shared-used paths, such as the Riverwalk and the Virginia Avenue Greenway in St. Elmo.
Companies would pay an application fee of $110 per new vehicle.
Operators would need to respond within two hours for repairs to disabled vehicles.
There was concern expressed about DUI on a scooter. It was noted that driver's licenses are not required for the scooters. However, inebriated offenders could be charged with public intoxication.
There would be a 12-month trial period to see how the scooters work out.
The City Council would have the "nuclear option" of discontinuing the program at any time.