Columbia could get another scooter company

The Columbia City Council will look over an interim agreement Monday night with Skinny Labs Inc., the owner of Spin Scooters.

The company wants to bring its scooters to Columbia. This would be the second scooter rental company in the city, after Bird arrived in Columbia in August.

The interim agreement will establish rules and regulations for Spin in Columbia, which were proposed by the company.

The following rules and regulations are being proposed:

The interim agreements would be for one year. A 24-hour, toll-free number and email address would be provided for the public to contact the scooter company. Spin would take corrective action such as rebalancing, moving and relocating incorrectly parked scooters within two hours of oral or written notification or the city will impound the scooter. Spin would begin operations within the city with an initial fleet size of 500 scooters. Spin would pay a $10,000 regulatory fee within 30 days of the effective date. Spin would pay $1 per day per scooter deployed in the city to be paid quarterly. Staff is recommending that 50% of this quarterly fee to be deposited into the transit fleet replacement project line item. Spin would be responsible for paying into a public property repair and maintenance performance bond or similar bond that the city could draw upon as needed for costs associated with auditing, removing and storing impounded scooters. A bond fee shall be $30 per scooter deployed in the city. Scooters would be governed at a speed not to exceed 15 mph on a paved, level surface. Spin would halt operations during inclement weather and remove scooters from the city’s right-of-way- on days where snow is expected. Spin would initiate a test program that enlists human monitors to ensure compliance. Spin would provide education to riders on the city’s existing rules and regulations via the Spin app. Spin would be required to remove scooters by 8 p.m. or dusk, whichever is later. Spin agrees to maintain for the duration of the agreement workers’ compensation and employers liability, commercial general liability and business auto liability.

The city plans to review the proposed interim agreement and vote Monday at 7 p.m.

Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Spin would be the second scooter company to have an agreement with the City of Columbia.