City seeks public comment on parking, dockless transportation proposals
Austin (KXAN)—The city of Austin is asking for public feedback on proposed rules for parking and safety for both regular vehicles and dockless transportation units, like electric bikes, electric scooters and mopeds.
This comes after the city issued a public survey, finding “strong criticism of the current system.”
A drafted rule proposal outlines a potential Residential Parking Permit (RPP) Program. This would allow Austin’s traffic engineer and approved property owners to limit parking in certain zones for non-residents, or people who are not visiting the property. In addition, the director of the Transportation and Public Works Department can create rules in those residential parking zones, including who can issue and use permits.
According to the proposal, an RPP Program’s goal is making sure residents have enough space to park on neighborhood streets and reduce congestion that makes finding a parking spot difficult.
City documents outline an application process giving property owners the power to establish a RPP. The area must be a public street under the city’s jurisdiction and cannot overlap with existing parking zones like commercial loading zones. Property owners must provide justification for their application based on the current parking situation.
Another draft proposal lays out extensive regulations on dockless transportation units—those include electric scooters, electric bikes and mopeds. The rule requires equipping each unit with brakes, lights and reflectors. They would have to be programmed to follow speed limits in geo-fenced areas. Geo-fenced areas are also used to designate where a rider can park the unit.
Under the proposed rule, electric bicycles are capped at a top speed of 20 mph, while electric scooters are capped at 15 mph. Mopeds are capped at 29 mph. If someone reports an unsafe unit, the provider must remotely disable and then remove the unit within an hour of receiving the report.
Comments on dockless transportation rules can be sent to MicromobilityRuleComments@AustinTexas.gov, and comments on RPP changes can be sent to TPWRPPRuleComments@AustinTexas.gov.
The public comment period ends June 12, and the rule adoption is currently scheduled for July 17.
