A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 2024 #06, regarding micromobility rules and regulations

Page1 of 4 MEMORANDUM To: Yi-an Huang, City Manager From: Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development Brooke McKenna, Transportation Commissioner Date: April 8, 2024 Subject: POR 2024 #17 Report on whether the City has the ability to regulate all electric micromobility devices including electric scooters, electric skateboards on bike paths and public ways or whether such regulation is preempted by State law ___________________________________________________________________________ In response to the Council Order requesting a report on whether the City has the ability to regulate all electric micromobility devices including electric scooters, electric skateboards on bike paths and public ways or whether such regulation is preempted by State law, we report the following to supplement the opinion provided by the Law Department: Electric micromobility devices, including electric bicycles (e-bikes), electric scooters (e- scooters), electric skateboards (e-skateboards), one-wheels, and other emerging mobility devices, have the potential to significantly improve the transportation ecosystem in Cambridge. They provide more mobility options for Cambridge residents, workers, and visitors. Micromobility devices offer affordable, low-carbon ways to travel. E-bikes are particularly important for people who may struggle to use non-e bikes, such as people who experience chronic pain or fatigue or other physical limitations and depend on e-bikes to be able to exercise and live with the freedom of mobility. The City of Cambridge has a long history of policies that reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips, starting with the 1992 Vehicle Trip Reduction Ordinance. These policies have enabled our city to grow a healthy economic base while remaining livable and addressing the challenges of climate change. Supporting bicycling as a sustainable and healthy transportation mode continues to be a cornerstone of these policies and is further strengthened by the emergence of e-bikes and other micromobility options. Our focus on supporting e-bikes and other micromobility devices as first-choice travel modes aligns with the shift towards prioritizing active and sustainable transportation at both the State and Federal levels. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) promotes micromobility, including e-bikes and e-scooters, to support overall goals for transportation equity, active transportation for health, and environmental sustainability. “Micromobility is an important component of a safe, equitable, healthy, accessible, connected, and reliable multi-modal transportation system.”i

Page 2 of 4 The popularity of micromobility – and in particular e-bikes and e-scooters – has grown tremendously over the past few years, locally, nationally, and internationally. As one example: After e-bikes were introduced into the Bluebikes system in mid-December, about 175,000 trips were taken in the three winter months following. Current data shows that e-bikes trips represent 30% of all trips taken although they are only about 18% of the bicycle fleet. Addressing Environmental and Climate Change Issues: Promote Sustainable Transportation and Reduce SOV Private automobile transportation is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emission from transportation within Cambridge’s borders. Replacing car trips with e- bike trips can provide substantial climate benefitsii. Research show that in North America, about 60% of e-bike trips replace car tripsiii. Further supporting the value of e-bikes is evidence that people who use e-bikes cycle more often and for longer distancesiv Cambridge Policies and Ordinances that support promotion of bicycling/sustainable transportation include the Vehicle Trip Reduction Ordinance (1992); the Parking and Transportation Demand Management Ordinance (1998); the Climate Protection Plan (2002); the School Wellness Policy (2013, updated annually); the Complete Streets Policy (2016); Vision Zero (2016); the Cycling Safety Ordinance (2019 and 2020); Envision Cambridge (2019); and City Council Goalsv. Supporting People of All Ages, Abilities, and Identitiesvi Making bicycling a safe and accessible form of transportation for people of all ages, abilities, and identities is a fundamental part of Cambridge’s transportation policy. Achieving this requires addressing physical and structural barriers that limit access to bicycling for some people. E-bikes are particularly valuable in enabling certain populations and users to choose to bicycle. They enable people with physical limitations to bike, including older people and people with disabilitiesvii. E-Cargo Bikes make it easier for people to travel with children and to transport goodsviii. E-bikes also make longer and hillier trips possible, and those who use e-bikes do take longer trips and bicycle more often during the week. E-bikes have also been shown to be particularly appealing to female cyclistsix, which helps address the gender gap in travel options for women. In the City's own “Healthy Aging and Cycling" program, offered to Cambridge residents ages 60 and older by the Community Development Department and Cambridge Council on Aging, several participants articulated how meaningful it was that they had the option for e-bikes, enabling them to ride more often and for further distances. It made the difference for them to choose to ride. More Equitable and Affordable Transportation Many people with lower incomes lack mobility options. E-bikes and e-scooters are more flexible than transit, significantly less expensive to own and operate than cars, and easier to park/store. There are also many incentive programs for e-bikes

Page 3 of 4 purchases available to people with low incomes, so getting an e-bike can make travel more affordable and give people better access to jobs, health care, childcare, shopping, and other destinations. And e-bikes are now available for both short and longer distance trips through the Bluebikes bikeshare system. E-bikes and e-scooters provide additional sustainable mobility options for people who do not or cannot drive. This includes people who are too young to drive, who cannot afford a car or cannot afford the cost of parking, or who have physical limitations that disallow automobile driving but do allow for micromobility vehicle use. Supporting Businesses and Providing Delivery Options E-Cargo bikes are a useful option for small businesses for deliveries and other needs; they are nimble and flexible and less impactful to the city and the environment than traditional trucks and other delivery vehicles, including cars. Services like UPS, Amazon, etc. have started using e-cargo delivery vehicles in urban areas. Boston currently has a program using e-cargo deliveryx that is already proving popular. Operational and Safety Considerations Having safe places to travel– specifically separated bike lanes on major roads and off- road multiuse paths -- remains the single most important factor in enabling people to choose to bicycle. Lack of safe places to ride is the number one barrier people cite for why they might not ride even though they desire to. Experience in Cambridgexi and around the world demonstrates that once safer and more supportive networks are in place, there is a substantial increase in the number of people bicycling, including older people and children. Further, the increase in paths and separated bike lanes, coupled with decreases in speed of motor vehicle travel, has been associated with significant safety improvementsxii, especially reducing the severity of injuries, in line with our Vision Zero objectives. One specific safety consideration concerns where people are riding bicycles and scooters. It is critical to ensure that major roads have high quality separated bike lanes so that people are not tempted to ride on sidewalks. It is understandable that people will choose to ride on sidewalks when roadway conditions feel unsafe and not conducive to traveling as a vulnerable road user. Fortunately, we have seen in Cambridge that sidewalk riding falls dramatically with the implementation of separated bicycle lanesxiii; this is the key solution to supporting people’s choices for using micromobility while providing a more comfortable space for people walking. It is also important to note that State law G.L. c. 90 §1 prohibits riders from operating e-bikes on sidewalks. and Cambridge Traffic Regulations prohibit cycling on sidewalks in business districts. Micromobility Speeds In terms of e-bikes, Massachusetts law has established a speed limit of 20 mph. Bluebikes e-bikes are currently capped at 18 mph. Evidence indicates that when speed restrictions are unreasonably low, more people will ride on sidewalks, whether or not there are bans in place.

Page 4 of 4 Experiences across the country and the world have shown that for e-scooter users are safest and make the most sense operating similarly to bicycle riders; in particular, on paths and separated bike lanes. It is safest for operational speeds to be similar, typically 15-20 MPH. If e-scooter speeds are kept artificially low, people will ride on the sidewalks. This was reflected in a studyxiv looking at e-scooter experiences in Washington D.C. where e-scooters are limited to 10 MPH and Austin, TX where they are limited to 20 MPH. While riders overwhelmingly rode in bike lanes where they were available in both cities, D.C. riders were 51 percent more likely than Austin riders to choose to ride on the sidewalk where there were no bike lanes present. Operational Consistency It is important for laws and regulations to be as consistent as possible for everyone’s safety and understanding. Cambridge is part of a very dense region, where people cross jurisdictional lines constantly. It makes travel smoother and safer for everyone when the expectations are consistent; this is why Cambridge Traffic Regulations closely mirror state regulations. i https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/micromobility ii https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102482 iii https://nitc.trec.pdx.edu/research/project/1041 iv https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7456196/ v https://www.cambridgema.gov/departments/citycouncil vi https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/11/15/study-e-bikes-can-be-a-key-mobility-tool-for-the-disabled-and-seniors-if https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198223001872 https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/gearing-up-for-electric-bikes https://www.nadtc.org/news/blog/e-bikes-increase-mobility-access-for-older-adults-and-people-with-disabilities/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29649069/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198222001658#ab010 vii https://usa.streetsblog.org/2023/11/15/study-e-bikes-can-be-a-key-mobility-tool-for-the-disabled-and-seniors-if viii https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590198222001658#ab010 ix https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29649069/ x https://www.boston.gov/departments/transportation/boston-delivers xihttps://www.cambridgema.gov/- /media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Bike/bikereports/20231023bicyclingincambridgedatareport_final.pdf xiihttps://www.cambridgema.gov/- /media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Bike/bikereports/20231023bicyclingincambridgedatareport_final.pdf xiiihttps://www.cambridgema.gov/- /media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Bike/bikereports/20231023bicyclingincambridgedatareport_final.pdf xiv https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/low-caps-on-e-scooter-speeds-encourage-sidewalk-riding