The District Department of Transportation is now taking applications for its 2020 Shared Dockless Vehicle Program, and if vendors take full advantage of the new fleet size limits, the number of dockless scooters and bikes in D.C. will more than double next year
DDOT increased the total potential dockless fleet for 2020 to a maximum of 20,000 — 10,000 scooters and 10,000 bikes — up from just over 6,200 allowed currently.
The city will also limit the number of operators to four per vehicle type, and cap the number of dockless vehicles each can deploy to 2,500.
DDOT also has new plans to address dockless vehicle clutter and illegal sidewalk use by riders.
The city will install 100 parking corrals for dockless vehicles, and in a new effort to keep them off sidewalks in the Central Business District, DDOT will be painting stencils on sidewalks identifying them as a “dismount zone.”
“The 2020 shared dockless vehicle program is representative of our approach to introducing new transportation options while being responsive to stakeholder feedback,” said DDOT Director Jeff Marootian in a statement.
Currently, Jump is the only vendor in the District operating a fleet of dockless bikes. Jump, along with Bird, Bolt, Lime, Lyft, Razor, Skip and Spin, all have fleets of dockless scooters in the city, each with between 600 and 720 scooters.
The D.C. Council is currently considering bills to further regulate how e-scooters are used in the city. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is holding hearings on a scooter ordinance as well.
