By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
SOMERS PONT — Want to boogie around Bay Avenue on an electric scooter and, when done, leave it where it lies? A businessman proposed providing a service so people can do just that.
Jeremy Lynch, a representative of BIRD Scooters, presented his proposal to City Council via Zoom during its meeting March 25.
Lynch characterized his company as a “stand-up electric vehicle-sharing company dedicate to making cities more livable by reducing car usage, traffic and carbon emissions.”
The idea is that the scooters would be placed in designated areas for people 18 and older to use to get to a destination and leave them there for someone else to rent later.
Lynch said he has been proposing the idea to multiple municipalities around the area to try to find a good fit for the business.
The scooters would be placed in the morning and collected at the end of each day by a fleet manager — someone local with an established business or start-up who would be available to do the necessary work.
A phone app helps users find a scooter, unlock it and complete a safety tutorial to start a ride, which costs $1 to start and 39 cents per minute thereafter. He said the average ride is 12 minutes, costing $5.68.
The scooters weigh 44 pounds and have a kickstand so are not easily knocked over, Lynch said. They can reach a top of speed of 15 mph but could be limited to 12 mph in designated areas.
Lynch said the operations app allows the city to set parameters within which the scooters can operate, both physically and metaphysically. He said they will not operate outside the preset zone.
Lynch said each scooter has a light operational day and night, brake lights and puncture-proof tires.
Lynch said he was aware that the city paid for a study of walking and biking conditions in the city and used it to establish the best place to operate would be in the Bay Avenue district.
Lynch said he would partner with the fleet manager and place between 50 and 75 scooters at the beginning until the demand is determined.
He said the fleet manager receives more than 51 percent of the revenue from each ride and is in charge of putting the scooters out in morning, rebalancing distribution during the day and addressing any issues.
Lynch said BIRD is operating in 15 to 20 cities right now, with fleet managers earning an average of $70,000 per year.
Councilman Joseph McCarry Jr. asked about insurance and whether the city could be liable in the case of injury.
Lynch said the rider is responsible for their actions and that his company would indemnify the city.
“The only way you could get into trouble is if you’re repairing the street and leave a manhole cover off,” Lynch said.
Councilman Sean McGuigan asked how soon Lynch would be willing to start and whether he has had success in any other locations.
Lynch said there would be no problem getting started quickly and that he would operate until the fall and assess whether it was a good fit.
He said Ocean City and Wildwood Crest rejected the idea and that he still was waiting on Wildwood, Point Pleasant, Brick Township and others.
City solicitor Tom Smith said he believes motorized scooters are illegal in the city and that there would be issues with two businesses operating out of a single building. City Council would have to address at least the scooter prohibition before anything operations could begin.
City Council President Janice Johnston questioned whether the city would have to bid the service if operating on public property. “We have a lot of homework to do,” she said.
