On Tuesday, Denver’s Land Use, Transportation, and Infrastructure (LUTI) committee voted to send the micromobility program licensing proposals to the full City Council. Council will now have the opportunity to decide whether to allow Lyft and Lime to provide bike and scooter share in Denver. In Tuesday’s LUTI meeting, five city council members voted in support of sending Lyft and Lime’s proposals to a vote while two voted no. Many cited concerns about only two providers being granted licenses while others worry that bikes and scooters will block public right of way.
The City has been without a robust bikeshare program since Denver B-Cycle ceased operations in January of 2020 after nearly 10 years due in part to a lack of consistent funding from the City. This left Denver without a critical form of transportation during a time when bike ridership increased exponentially. Micromobility is a fundamental part of our transportation system. Denver B-Cycle provided 2.5 million trips and riders traveled 5.3 million miles. Between August 1, 2018 and November 30, 2019, e-scooters were used for 3.4 million trips, totaling 4.3 million miles traveled. That’s an average of 7,822 trips per day. All data points to many Denverites embracing these modes of transportation to get around without a car and to make connections between transit hubs.
DSP urges City Council to move forward with the proposed license agreements. While not perfect, the proposals take micromobility in the right direction with requirements to deploy bikes and scooters in equity index areas daily, adding free and low-cost pass programs, and a commitment from the companies to install hundreds of scooter and bike parking spots. Communities across Denver—particularly low income residents and essential workers—are in need of affordable, reliable transportation options today to fill gaps in our transportation network and to help meet Denver’s Mobility Action Plan goals to reduce single-occupancy vehicle commuter trips, improve air quality, mitigate climate change, and to make our streets safer.