Dockless bikes and scooter companies in D.C. will now be charged fee by the DC government as part of new rules and regulations to be implemented in the city.
The new regulations were announced on Friday. Under new rules, all bikes should come with locks and in each yard of the city, 6 vehicles should be available by 6.a.m. A toll free number and website should be available to call in case bikes and scooters are wrongly parked.
There is a $2,000 permit per month fee for a company to function in the city which is applicable until the end of 2018. Next year, the companies have to pay yearly $250 dollars and an additional annual fee for each operational vehicle in the city. For each bike or a scooter that runs in the city on a particular month, the fee will range from $5 to $60.
From Jan 1, 2019, an application fee of $50 for every permit and $25 technology fee per permit is also required to be paid by companies. If any company doesn’t follow the new rules and regulations, they’ve to pay a deposit of $5,000 for one year which is payable until the end of 2018. The deposit fee will increase to $10,000 from Jan 1, 2019.
Presently, Bird, Jump, Lime, Lyft, Skip and Spin are the five companies that are operating dockless vehicles in the city. Over 940,000 trips have been taken by people on dockless bikes and scooters since the program was launched in September 2017, as per D.C. Department of Transportation.
Written comments and feedback can be submitted at publicspace.policy@dc.gov until November 26.