As currently written, the bill seeks to establish mandatory parking zones in certain neighborhoods, fit vehicles with technology to detect and intervene when users ride on sidewalks, and require compliance tests that riders must pass before being able to rent the vehicles.
The Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill on Tuesday, May 6, pending amendments from the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) that sponsors say will be finalized this week.
Council members have long expressed concern about the safety of e-scooters as the devices become increasingly ingrained in the city's transportation system. There were nearly 5.8 million e-scooter trips taken in Denver in 2024, around 15,880 per day. During that same period, Denver Health registered 1,962 patient visits attributed to scooter injuries — more than five each day of the year, and up from 1,449 in 2023.
District 10 Councilman Chris Hinds has been talking about cracking down on dangerous and disruptive e-scooter behavior for years. He presented the initial concept for the proposed bill to a council committee back in August 2024.
"A lot of people are getting significantly harmed by scooters every day," Hinds, whose district spans Capitol Hill and downtown, told Westword in August. "It seems crazy that we still haven't done anything. At some point, we have to listen to what the people of Denver want, and that's some additional guardrails around scooters."
Hinds is sponsoring the proposal along with councilmembers Darrell Watson and Sarah Parady.
"We're aligned with the spirit of this bill," says Jacob Tugendrajch, spokesperson for Lime. "We’ll wait to comment until the bill is final, but we look forward to working with DOTI and the council to continue improving the program."
Lime is one of only two companies permitted to provide rentable e-scooters and bikes in Denver, in addition to Bird. Both companies' licensing agreements with the city are set to expire in May 2026.
If passed into law, the changes will take effect beginning on July 1, 2026.
Parking
Current regulations mandate that parked scooters must not impede the movement of traffic, pedestrian or otherwise. But as scooters frequently block the right-of-way in Denver, the proposal aims to take things further.The bill would require that e-scooters and bikes be parked in designated corrals in certain high-traffic areas of the city. These mandatory parking zones would include the downtown Union Station and Central Business District neighborhoods, as well as Five Points, with DOTI given the power to designate additional zones as needed. In these zones, technology could prevent users from ending rides if scooters are not placed in corrals, continuing to run the rental clock or charging extra if scooters are improperly parked.
Sidewalk Riding
City law already requires e-scooters to be ridden in a bike lane or on the right-hand side of a roadway. The vehicles can only be ridden on sidewalks when parking and, while on a sidewalk, scooters must yield to pedestrians and not go faster than 6 miles per hour. These laws are scarcely enforced, however, and sidewalk riding remains a common occurrence.The proposed bill would mandate that micromobility companies add technology to e-scooters and bikes that identifies and tracks when the vehicles are being ridden on a sidewalk. The vehicles would then have to intervene in some way, like by automatically slowing down, increasing the cost of the trip for the rider for the time they are on the sidewalk, or emitting an audible message telling the rider to get off of the sidewalk.
Tests and More
To assure riders are aware of the new and existing city laws, the proposal would require micromobility companies to test users on their knowledge. Before they could rent an e-scooter or bike for the first time, users would need to pass a "simple test" addressing laws on parking, sidewalk riding, helmet use and restricted areas. DOTI must approve the test and decide how often it need be administered.The bill specifies that the companies are responsible for any user violations, subjecting the companies to potential fines ranging from $150 to $999 for each administrative citation issued.
Companies would also have to: provide discounted programs for low-income users; offer at least 5 percent of devices for riders with disabilities; distribute information and hold in-person outreach events on local regulations; and submit quarterly reports to the city including crash data, education initiatives, and the location and frequency of sidewalk riding.
