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TCRP LRD 61 LEGAL RESEARCH DIGEST JU LY 2 024 Transit Agencies Providing or Subsidizing Innovative T RANSI T COOP E R AT I VE Micromobility Projects: Legal Issues RESEA R C H This report was prepared under TCRP Project J-05, âLegal Aspects of Transit and Intermodal Transportation Programs,â for which the Transportation Research Board is the agency coordinating the research. The report P ROGR A M was prepared under Topic 21-02 by Matthew W. Daus, Windels, Marx, Lane & Mittendorf LLP, New York, NY. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this digest are those of the researchers who Sponsored by the performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation ÂResearch Board; the National Federal Transit Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; or the program sponsors. The Âresponsible senior Administration program officer is Gwen Chisholm Smith. Background Foreword The nationâs 6,800 plus public transportation agen- The use of scooters, bicycles, e-bikes, and other forms cies need to have access to a program that can provide of micromobility has accelerated due to the COVID-19 Âauthoritatively researched, specific studies of legal issues pandemic, urban congestion, and parking restrictions. and problems having national significance and application Some transit agencies provide or subsidize micromobility to the public transportation industry. Some legal issues to bridge the gap between transit stops and destinations and problems are unique to transit agencies. For example, beyond a comfortable walking distance. While bikes and compliance with transit-equipment and operations guide- scooters are not new, micromobility has only recently lines, FTA financing initiatives, private-sector programs, been used in public transit. In this digest, micromobility and labor or environmental standards relating to transit refers to small, low-speed, human- or electric-Âpowered operations. Also, much of the information that is needed vehicles, including bicycles, scooters, electric-assist by public transit attorneys to address legal concerns is not Âbicycles (e-bikes), electric scooters (e-scooters), electric summarized in a single source. Consequently, it would be skateboards, and adaptive versions of these devices. helpful to the transit lawyer to have well-resourced and This digest presents practices for transit agencies to well-documented reports on specific legal topics available consider when implementing shared-use micromobility to the public transportation legal community. systems to provide and support public transit, includ- The Legal Research Digests (LRDs) are developed to ing accessibility, safety, regulation, jurisdiction, service Âassist public transit attorneys in dealing with initiatives quality, theft, insurance, liability, security, tracking,  and problems associated with transit start-up and opera Âlicensing, permitting, franchising, billing, maintenance, tions, as well as with day-to-day legal works. The LRDs environmental justice, and compliance with civil rights address such issues as eminent domain, civil rights, laws. This digest also provides examples of cities regulat- constitutional rights, contracting, environmental con- ing bike and scooter share programs and transit agencies cerns,  labor, procurement, risk management, security, participating in such programs. tort ÂliaÂbility, and zoning. The transit legal research, when This digest will be useful to lawyers representing conducted through the TRBâs legal studies process, either Âpublic transportation agencies of all sizes, transit opera- collects primary data that generally are not available else- tors, administrators, planners, and risk managers. where or performs analysis of existing literature.
