Legislation Could Make E-Scooters Legal In PA

By Peter Hall | Pennsylvania Capital-Star

E-scooters aren’t legal anywhere in Pennsylvania, but that hasn’t kept thousands of people across the commonwealth from using the two-wheeled electric vehicles to get around on public streets and sidewalks.

At the same time, the lack of a regulatory framework means companies offering e-scooters as shared micromobility devices in cities around the United States can’t operate in Pennsylvania.

“We are basically allowing for a free for all, because people are legally allowed to purchase e-scooters in Pennsylvania, but they’re not legally allowed to ride them,” state Rep. Emily Kinkead (D-Allegheny) said in a hearing Monday on her legislation that she said would close a “huge gap” in the law.

“That doesn’t allow for this really important new micromobility option, but also doesn’t allow our police and our municipalities to regulate them in any kind of way that actually would keep people safe,” she said.

Kinkead’s north Pittsburgh district was the site of a popular e-scooter sharing pilot program that ended in 2023.  At a hearing Monday on her bill before the House Transportation Committee, Kinkead said the pilot found enthusiastic scooter users in a part of the city that is both hilly and cut off from adjoining neighborhoods by a lack of transit links.

“What I saw when it came to the usage of e-scooters was not … college kids goofing around. It was people who were trying to get around the North Side, people with grocery bags,” she said. “These are people who are trying to close the gap in public transit.”

The pilot ended because the legislation authorizing it expired before it could be renewed.

Kinkead’s  House Bill 1633 would build on the success of Pittsburgh’s pilot, called Spin, which had 212,000 people sign up to use it during the two-year program. It’s similar to legislation she introduced last session.

The bill would permit any of the commonwealth’s 53 second- or third-class cities to establish an e-scooter mobility program with a commercial provider under the rules developed by Pittsburgh for the Spin pilot. 

Philadelphia, which is the only first-class city, is not included in the provision at the request of Mayor Cheryl Parker’s administration, committee Chairman Ed Neilson (D-Philadelphia) said.

Those rules, once adopted by the city as an ordinance, would allow scooter riders to use public roads, bicycle lanes and trails with the same rights and privileges as pedal cyclists. They also prohibit the use of scooters on sidewalks unless in a designated parking area and riding on freeways or highways with speed limits greater than 35 mph.

They also would require riders to be at least 16 years old, limit the speed of scooters to 15 mph and to have lights when operating at night. 

The bill states that nothing in the measure would prevent a person from owning an e-scooter privately and that the requirements for commercial operators would not apply.

Commercial scooter sharing companies would also be required to have a complaint hot line for abandoned scooters and other violations, enforce geographic boundaries for the program, and follow rules on fleet size, rider limits, maintenance and fares. 

Rylan Siefert, curbside and mobility services program manager for the city of Pittsburgh, said the Spin program averaged 13,000 monthly riders, 44% of whom used the scooters to get to work, and provided 1.4 million miles of travel during its two years. 

The program proved effective and affordable for transit users and people without cars to cover the first and last miles of their journeys. Surveys showed that e-scooter users were more likely to be non-white and lower-income and twice as likely to lack access to a car, Siefert said.

“This demonstrates that shared e-scooters are an essential tool to make mobility in Pittsburgh easier, more affordable, and more reliable,” he said.

Rep. Jen O’Mara (D-Delaware) said she plans to introduce an amendment to Kinkead’s bill to add safety provisions for minors using scooters, including a helmet requirement for children up to age 18.

O’Mara noted Tuesday is the anniversary of the death of 12-year-old Abby Gillon, who was struck by a car while riding an e-scooter with a friend in Aston Township. Both girls, neither of whom was wearing a helmet, were critically injured and Abby died of her injuries two days after the crash.

“I​​t feels as a parent and as a legislator … like it’s time to get Pennsylvania in that space where our law enforcement can do something,” she said.

Two months after the tragedy, Sen. Tim Kearney (D-Delaware) introduced legislation that also contained a helmet requirement, a minimum age requirement of 16, a limit of one rider per scooter, and rider education. It also required scooter riders to follow the same rules as cyclists.

Kearney’s bill did not get a vote in the Senate. 

Under Kinkead’s bill, commercial scooter sharing companies would be required to carry $2 million in commercial liability insurance and $1 million in commercial auto insurance. Jonathan Greer, president and CEO of the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania, said that he has serious concerns about safety and insurance coverage for riders. 

He noted that the user agreement for Lime Mobility, the world’s largest e-scooter sharing company, is 18 pages long.

“When you say click to accept terms and conditions, I think a lot of these people don’t know what they’re accepting,” he said, noting that it provides releases from liability for the company but very little protection for the riders. “The agreement speaks in vivid detail the dangers associated with this activity.”

A representative of Lime later noted that more than 99% of the company’s rides are completed without incident and objected to the assertion that e-scooters are inherently unsafe.

The exposure for a private e-scooter owner or a parent who buys one as a toy for their child could be worse. Neilson noted that while homeowners insurance typically covers liability associated with bicycle accidents, it would not cover e-scooters. Greer said private insurance is available for e-scooter users through surplus lines markets. 

“No one does that,” he said “The reason people don’t do it is they don’t realize the liability that they’re inviting by getting on these things.”

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Tim Lambert for questions: info@penncapital-star.com.