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This month, several companies will begin renting electronically motorized boards for the community to get around Berkeley as part of the city’s Shared Electric Micromobility Program. (Berkeleyside Link)
To alleviate any uncertainty about the laws surrounding the devices, we wanted to provide the community with some basic information about them. The California Vehicle Code (CVC) defines “an ‘electronically motorized board’ is any wheeled device that has a floorboard designed to be stood upon when riding…”— such as a sit/stand eScooter or eBike.
Here are a few laws to consider before using an electronically motorized board:
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You must be at least 16 years old to operate the device (CVC 21291)
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You must wear a helmet, unless you are 18 years old or older (CVC 21292)
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You may only operate the device on roadways with a speed limits of 35 mph or less, unless you are riding within a designated Class II or Class IV bikeway (CVC 21294)
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You may not operate the device on a roadway, bikeway, pathway, etc. at a speed in excess of 15 mph or a speed that is unsafe for the conditions (CVC 21294)
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You may not operate the device under the influence of alcohol or drugs (CVC 21296)
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When using the device during darkness, your device must be properly equipped for visibility (CVC 21293).
What does this mean for the UC Campus?
- Vehicles must be locked to a a bike rack. They may not be locked to locations that blocks the ADA paths of travel, handles along ramps, or anywhere that may pose as a trip hazard.
- The University is geofenced, including the Stadium and Greek Theatre. Except for travel along Gayley and Piedmont, the entire campus is off limits for riding and parking (this area is surrounded by Gayley/Piedmont, Hearst, Oxford, and Bancroft).
- This does not preclude us from working with the vendors or having a program – you can ride regionally or locally, but the “last mile” ends at the campus edge.
- We must get our potential partners to work with our risk and legal teams in terms of responsibility and insurance requirements.
- We have a working schematic of what we require from these vendors, and that includes parking, risk, and sponsorships.
- The schematic also includes a working program to make memberships affordable for our campus affiliates. This includes discounts or monthly/semester programs that would reduce excessive spending for the end user and to make these programs equitable in programmatic terms.
- The timeline for campus launch will be this summer with the hopes for actual campus launch and operations by August 2022. If we miss the deadline, it still doesn’t preclude us from offering these programs to the affiliates.
- For Illegal Parking or Misbehavior: Please contact one of the following companies below. By law, they have 3 hours to remove violators for unauthorized spaces.
Each operator provides a customer service contact line, available twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, for complaints regarding improper parking. As a part of the permit program’s terms and conditions, if a shared device is parked or being operated improperly (such as sidewalk riding), concerned residents and visitors are encouraged to call or email the customer service contact of the respective operator directly. Each electric micromobilty device clearly displays both the operator’s contact information and a unique identifying number. These customer service contacts can also be found in this memo in the above bullets, within the operator’s mobile application, as well as the operator website(s). Operators must remove improperly parked devices within three (3) hours of receipt of a public complaint. Operators that are repeatedly found by staff to be out of compliance may have their permits terminated at any time.
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