Bloomington City Council to reconsider scooter parking ban

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — The Bloomington City Council is considering whether to enforce a scooter parking ban after scooter-share companies threatened to leave.

The Herald-Times reports that council voted Wednesday to permit scooter riding on the city’s sidewalks, but voted to prohibit the passengers from parking there. The proposed amendment would clear the city’s sidewalks by mandating that passengers park their scooters in on-street corrals.

The votes came after Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill Monday that allows cities to bar scooter riders from parking on sidewalks, but they must provide “proximate parking.”

Bloomington’s public engagement director Mary Catherine Carmichael says scooter-share companies Lime and Bird would subsequently end operations in Bloomington if the rules were implemented.

The council has decided to wait on making an official decision until May 15.