Case Date:

9/13/2018

There is a Bird Scooter partially blocking the sidewalk in front of the PACE bicycle share rack directly across from Bloomington Bagel Company on Dunn Avenue.

Case Date:

9/24/2018

I would like to ask the City of Bloomington to begin considering steps to put ordinances, rules, regulations on these Bird Scooters that have infiltrated our city. I have seen almost every person riding in violation of the safety rules the company urges. There have been two people on a scooter, all of them without helmets, and riding on sidewalks/all over campus. They are getting parked on campus bike racks, cluttering up side walks, and generally are unsafe and without any kind of ordinance in place, could only cause potential risk to both car drivers, pedestrians, cyclists etc. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45596449 There are known deaths on these modes of transportation. Indianapolis enacted an ordinance after unsafe crashes had occurred. Bloomington needs to be aware of the risk and make stations for these scooters with agreements on proper use.

Case Date:

10/4/2018

Lime scooter parked on sidewalk on Washington east side near 2nd 11:45 am

Case Date:

10/5/2018

2 Bird scooter, parallel to each other, taking up half of sidewalk, south side Hunter at Woodlawn. The companies want them convenient for pickup? (Could be worse since there is room still to walk

Case Date:

10/24/2018

Every day I am nearly hit by a bicycle speeding along the sidewalk on Indiana Avenue from Henderson Street parking garage towards Sample Gates. Every day I cross through those gates and am nearly hit by more bikes speeding and zipping and failing to give way at all to pedestrians. Every day I see mechanized scooters zipping between pedestrians and nearly hitting them and each other, in opposite directions, no one wearing a helmet, no signs explaining the rules, no one enforcing anything. Every day I pray i won't have to see a toddler take a half step to the right as one of these two-wheeled objects zips past them from behind, without warning, and gets hit. Or that I might be that person, because I've come so close so many times. Every day I drive down 3rd and pray I won't be the one who hits a scooter zipping out without warning, or have to see a cyclist ram into the back of a car illegally parked in the bike path (again, NEVER policed) like one of my students a couple of semesters back. And yet I am supposed to believe that "Bloomington is a pedestrian and bike friendly community committed to the integration of active and sustainable forms of transportation." The bike paths need to be segregated and not just by white lines. They need to be two-way. The scooters need to go until some meaningful infrastructure has been put in place for them, including signage that makes clear the rules, because no one has gotten the memo that they're not supposed to be on the sidewalks -- publishing regulations prominently on this website would be a start. It feels like the scooters were just dumped here and then the owners ran away. Let me be clear. I am a huge fan of bikes and walking. I've spent half my life walking everywhere, just not in this country. For example, I lived in Berlin for two years 25 years ago, and rode my bike everywhere. That was a genuinely bike friendly city, safe for pedestrians. it had designated bike paths with their own traffic lights, and policed regulations that penalized everyone for breaking the rules, including pedestrians. imagine how much money the city could make -- and how much safer it would be for everyone -- if we actually implemented such regulations. i will not let my kids out on their bikes. I have been here just four years and personally know two people who've been hit by cars, one who was maimed for life while walking, another who was badly hurt while riding. i know a cyclist who's been hit by a car while legally crossing a cross walk. the lack of transparent regulation and absence of enforcement has created a toxic mess that is going to end in tragedy for someone. Please, the city needs to act. Pedestrians shouldn't have to police the sidewalks themselves. Please make our city safe for walkers again, and give our cyclists proper paths they are obligated to use without endangering life and limb -- their own and others'. And do the same for the scooters. But only if you must. They are no alternative to safe public transportation and without enforcement we are going to continue to have horrible accidents like the one last week that left a student with a head injury. I know the student health center is counting injuries. Everyone I know has a scooter story. I saw someone having a horrible fall right in front of Franklin Hall just a week or two ago, and a few days later, four young lads zooming in drunken formation past Kilroy's, taking up both sides of the road, no helmets. i'm still trying to decide whether that was better or worse than the careful young student I followed riding his scooter, without a helmet, sandwiched between cars on 10th, with his nice backpack and pressed Chino's. It has to stop.

Case Date:

11/6/2018

Several scooter riders are riding the scooters in the dismount zone along the north side of Kirkwood Avenue between Indiana and Dunn avenues. Increased (or any) enforcement of laws would be nice for a change.

Case Date:

11/8/2018

I noticed the recent guidelines for scooters don't specifically explain who has the right-of-way on the B-line trail. It's already unclear whether cars are supposed to yield to bike traffic. Some do, some don't, leading to confusion in the entire community. Now the same is applying to electric scooters. I was on a scooter on the B-Line this morning, slowed as I approached 2nd Street, and cars in each direction had also slowed as if they were yielding. I proceeded through the crossing but the westbound car did not in fact yield and nearly hit me (at a very low speed, granted--so I couldn't tell if they didn't see me or were being super aggressive). So when I approached the 4th Street crossing I came to a dead stop, as did the cars on 4th Street, waving me on. TL;DR the right-of-way rules on the B-Line were already unclear and are even more so now with a third major type of trail use. Please create clear signage at every major intersection on the trail that states who has the right-of-way so that both trail users and vehicular traffic understand the rules.

Case Date:

11/8/2018

The lack of shoulders on the roads is a serious problem in Bloomington. I have lived in a number of cities across the US and Bloomington is the first city I've seen that has very few (if any?) shoulders on the roads. This is unbelievably problematic - if someone has car trouble they can't pull off to the side, if you are dropping someone off you can't just pull off to the side, if I receive a phone call I can't pull over, if riding a bicycle you can't ride along the side.... there are a fair number (surely more than is acceptable) of bike and scooter accidents in Bloomington, and this can largely be attributed to lack of shoulders on roads.

Case Date:

11/15/2018

Hello, I would like to draw your attention to an issue with item 6 of the e-scooter guidelines on the city website; "6. Park the scooter in a bike rack or in another lawful spot on public property that does not block the right-of-way, limit access for individuals with disabilities, risk damaging private or public property, or jeopardize public safety." E-scooters should not be parked “in a bike rack” as they do not require locking and have their own kick-stand support. When e-scooters are parked inside of bike racks they are blocking access to a vital space for cyclists. Parking e-scooters in bike racks causes the same inconvenience to cyclists as parking e-scooters in the middle of a sidewalk causes to pedestrians. Failing to notice this basic issue feels like the city of Bloomington has forgotten or decided to ignore the needs of cyclists. I ask that the wording in the e-scooter guidelines be changed to ensure that bike racks are reserved for bikes and other vehicles that require locking, and proper notice be given to e-scooter users about this change. Thank you.

Case Date:

11/20/2018

316 e 12th St. Three Bird scooter across the sidewalk. 4:30 pm, Nov 20, 2018