More than 5 years after passing e-scooter curfew, Atlanta City Council considers shorter cut-off

ATLANTA — In August 2019, Atlanta City Council members passed a rule setting a four-hour curfew for the use of e-bikes and e-scooters in the city. The initial ban barred use of the so-called mobility devices from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Now, more than five years later, council members are weighing whether or not to shorten that time to just two hours. The proposal is up for discussion at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

When the ban passed, then-Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for the nighttime ban because of four deadly scooter accidents in metro Atlanta.

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At the time of the original ban, Atlanta’s then-planning commissioner, Tim Keane, told Channel 2 Action News he hoped it would be temporary. In 2022, council members reduced the banned drive time from a 9 p.m. start to 12 a.m., shortening it to a four-hour curfew of sorts.

It appears that in 2024, Keane’s hope could come to fruition.

A resolution introduced by Council Member Antonio Lewis on Oct. 7 requested the Atlanta Department of Transportation shorten the banned drive time for e-scooters and e-bikes from midnight to 4 a.m. and instead have it operate from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.

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The resolution from the city council says that in the time since the initial ban, Atlanta has “progressively improved micromobility infrastructure, including for shareable dockless mobility devices.”

Citing safety concerns for pedestrians in the city, the resolution says by making mobility devices available until 2 a.m., “individuals who feel vulnerable traveling alone by foot or via shared transit modes at night” will have an alternate option for reliable, safe transportation. Council members said in the resolution this was particularly helpful for night shift and service workers in Atlanta.

At the Oct. 7 meeting the resolution was introduced, it passed without objection and was referred to the Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee.

On Wednesday, members of city council are expected to open the floor for discussion at the Transportation Committee meeting before a potential vote on shortening the e-scooter and e-bike ban to just two hours each night.

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