The Conway City Council approved the municipal code for the adoption of e-scooters and scooter programs at its Feb. 10 meeting.

Troy Rice, business services coordinator for the city, presented the scooter plan to the council, a  continuation of an idea first explored at its Jan. 13 meeting.

“We had a committee that wanted to take a look at the municipal code and compare it to other municipalities that are already in a scooter share program,” Rice said.

Scooter share programs offer rentable scooters that allow for short-distance travel across various urban areas.

The committee, which was made of various members of the Mayor’s Office – including Rice, worked on Municipal code 8.82.1.

The code’s purpose is to “promote the safe, orderly and accessible use of electric scooters.”

Throughout his presentation, Rice defined what an electric scooter was in ordinance with the code – “a device weighing no more than 100 pounds, having two or three wheels, handlebars and powered in part or whole by an electric motor.”

“I know the city has some past experience with a bicycle program. Some of those experiences were good, some of them were not so good. So we wanted to clarify for sure what a scooter is,” Rice said.

Rice also went through some of the requirements needed to be able to rent and operate the scooter.

Riders will need to be at least 16 years old. And while not enforced, the city is strongly recommending that riders wear a helmet while operating the scooter.

Riders are also expected to comply with traffic laws similar to bicycle users and operation is limited to public roadways.

The scooters are allowed to be used in bicycle lanes or streets with a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour.

They are also able to operate on sidewalks with a width of eight or more feet.

In terms of scooter speed limit, they are allowed to go 15 miles per hour on streets/multiuse paths and 10 miles per hour on sidewalks.

All scooters will be equipped with a brake and a bell.

And for nighttime operation, riders will need to use a white front light, a red rear light and a reflector for visibility.

Rice said scooter laws are only applicable to rentable scooters, not those that are privately owned.

In terms of parking and storage, the scooters must be parked upright.

They are not allowed to obstruct pedestrians or interfere with any other pathways such as building entrances, ramps or driveways.

The scooters cannot be parked on private property or within five feet of a crosswalk or curb ramp.

Scooters used on multi-use trails are only allowed to be parked at trailheads.

There will not be any designated charging ports for the scooters, Rice said.

Instead, the operation company will pick up the scooters and change batteries after use.

In order to use the scooters, operators will need to obtain a permit which will be valid for 12 months.

Operators will also need to give a street address, a designated contact person and a commercial liability insurance not less than $1 million.

In addition to those, operators will provide monthly data reports including trip counts, response time to complaints and safety incidents.

Penalties for violating regulations will include fines and revocation of permits.

Fines will be as low as $50 and as high as $500.

Megan Willis, a representative from the company supplying the scooters, also spoke to the council about the program.

Willis said the company is a small, privately owned business – not a scooter share program.

“We’re just wanting to bring something for people to have to do in Conway, because this isn’t something the city has seen yet,” Willis said.

The council approved the new code unanimously.

The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 24.