In response to feedback from the community, City of Alexandria officials have ‘fenced off’ certain areas of the city from dockless mobility devices (including scooters).
Scooters will not be allowed to start or end a trip in certain areas of the city. Those include Market Square, the City Marina, Waterfront Park and areas around Metro stations that are currently closed for construction. An image of the areas ‘geofenced’ is available here.
When scooter riders try to end their ride in the geofenced area, the app they use to rent a scooter will not allow them to end their ride in that area. The user will have to move the scooter to an allowed area to end their ride and check their scooter back in.
In addition, city workers have painted scooter corral areas on certain roads encouraging riders to park scooters in those areas.
DDOT Approves Shared Moped Pilot Program
As City officials continue to work on new scooter regulations to keep both scooter riders and other commuters happy, residents may be seeing new dockless mobility devices arrive in Alexandria.
The District of Columbia recently allowed shared dockless moped companies to start operating in the District. It is likely that, as with scooters, the devices will be ridden into Alexandria.
The District Department of Transportation noted in a release: “The terms will include current laws related to the operation of mopeds such as requiring a helmet, possessing a valid driver license and no riding on the sidewalks. All permitted applicants will be allowed to operate up to 400 vehicles during the demonstration period.” The demonstration period will last four months and could start later this year.
Mopeds, by definition, do not go more than 30 mph. Some have pedals and look like an electric bike, but most people consider a moped something akin to a Vespa -- a small, two-wheeled motorbike with a gas or electric engine that does not require pedals.
