Not yet, but they will be. Right now, the city has laws on the books prohibiting riders from riding on sidewalks, leaving scooters parked in the middle of sidewalks, and prohibiting riders from leaving their scooters lying on the ground. In addition, there is a 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. ban on riding scooters in the city.
Even more regulations are coming, however. In March, the city established a permit structure for companies seeking to operate dockless scooters and bikes in Atlanta. Companies operating those services in Atlanta who applied for permits by the April 27, 2020 deadline will know on May 8 whether they still will be allowed to operate in the city.
It appears from the application process that the main question will be the companies’ willingness to pay the operating fees and meet insurance and bond requirements. Atlanta is following in the footsteps of other major cities in this respect. For example, the District of Columbia recently instituted a regulatory scheme that cut the number of scooter operators in the city by half. Only four of the eight operators were granted permits, with Jump, Lyft, Skip, and Spin coming out on top, while Lime, Bird, Razor, and Bolt were left out in the cold. Lime and Bird were the two largest operators in the city before the new scheme. There is no telling how the Atlanta permitting process will turn out.
