Long Beach will soon start an experiment to see whether electric scooters are safe on a 3.5-mile stretch of its bike path along the beach.
The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday voted 6-1 to have city staff draft a pilot program that will allow e-scooters on the beach path, from Alamitos Avenue to 54th Place, under a framework of speed limits, designated crossing areas and drop-off zones.
The ordinance will require a first reading on April 15 and a second reading on April 22, with an expected start date as early as May 22.
Scooters flooded Long Beach in 2018 but were quickly banned along the city’s beach path after their presence sparked anger from residents who complained the devices were dangerous and poorly regulated.
Now, the 12-month pilot looks to put in place some parameters: It will require Bird and Lime, the two scooter companies licensed in Long Beach, to ensure scooters are being parked in appropriate areas and not abandoned on the path.
The pilot will also impose a 15 mph speed limit on scooters. A 20 mph limit will continue to apply to electric bikes and conventional bicycles.
There will be pedestrian crossing areas where there is high foot traffic, such as the Junipero and Alamitos Beach concession areas, parking lots, the Shoreline Marina, Belmont Pier, and Rosie’s Dog Beach. In those areas, all path users will be required to slow to 5 mph when pedestrians are present. Areas surrounding bathrooms, concessions, and the pier can be geofenced to limit rental e-scooter speeds to 5 mph at all times.
And drop zones will be proposed by scooter companies and approved by the city at locations with paved surfaces and signage.
The city could fine rental companies for scooters that are not removed in a timely manner or are impounded, but rates haven’t yet been set. The city said Friday it has not released new standards for violations or impounding fees.
Elsewhere in the city, companies have two hours to remove any scooters that block the public right of way, or risk losing their permits, city officials said. The companies pay fees between $25 and $100 if any city staff must move or impound a scooter.
Officials could not confirm how many rental e-scooters will be deployed along the beach path upon the start of the pilot program. There are about 2,000 rental e-scooters citywide.
The city framed the pilot as a way to help craft regulations around the pay-per-minute devices that many people rely on for getting around.
“Micro-mobility is really important to a lot of people in this city,” said Councilmember Cindy Allen. “Because not everybody owns a car or is privileged enough to own a car. And a lot of people still need to work and get around the city.”
Since their 2018 launch, a Lime official said Tuesday that 450,000 people have taken a total 1.7 million trips in Long Beach.
Capable of speeds up to 15 mph — personal performance models can go up to 60 mph — and distances as far as 40 miles under a single charge, the rental scooters are seen by some as a quick and sustainable way to zip about the city.
But others have griped about careless riders who flout traffic laws, careen helmetless through crowded sidewalks and streets, and park haphazardly.
State law prohibits riding electric scooters on the sidewalk or roadways with posted speeds faster than 25 mph, forcing riders to either stick to bike lanes or routinely run afoul of the law.
In 2024, the city logged 11,683 scooter violations through its online app.
Councilmember Kristina Duggan, who represents the eastern part of the coast in Belmont Shore, was the lone vote against allowing them on the beach bike path.
Her decision, she explained, was based on complaints from her constituents — by phone, survey and emails — who feel the city does not adequately take community feedback and does not enforce rules around electric scooters and bikes.
The cost of enforcement during the pilot has not yet been determined and will be studied during the pilot. Long Beach Public Works Director Eric Lopez said the city’s police department is not staffed to handle “daily enforcement” on the beach path and will instead look into “periodic enforcement.”
At the recommendation of Councilmember Joni Ricks-Oddie, city staff will return in six months with a memo that will serve as the pilot’s benchmark.
“I’m treating this like a real pilot,” Ricks-Oddie said. “If in six months we determine we’re creating dangerous conditions, I don’t want to continue a pilot for 12 months if that’s the case.”
The memo will focus on the number of times scooters are abandoned along the sidewalk or in front of public facilities, the number of complaints or violations, and “behavioral compliance by the users,” officials said.
“If we start to see trends moving in the wrong direction for those, I think that would lend us toward more scrutiny about how long the pilot should endure,” said Joshua Hickman with Long Beach Public Works.