The Town of Miami Lakes is working to enhance pedestrian safety and encourage bicycle and scooter riding for residents with road improvements and new rental programs.
The council unanimously approved an ordinance on June 8th to regulate “dock-less-mobility devices” such as bicycles or scooters equipped with or without seats that work via cellphone apps.
The bikes and scooters will not have docking stations.
Residents may be able to unlock the devices wherever they find them, ride to a destination and lock them when they are finished.
Town Manager Edward Pidermann said he’ll present more details about possible vendors at the July 13th council meeting.
Pidermann said the service providers, who will be chosen by a license application process, can furnish up to 300 devices in phases for residents to use.
The companies can also request to increase their fleets.
In 2017, Spin and Lime Bicycles were available to residents, but those programs weren’t continued, Mayor Manny Cid said.
Miami Lakes Transportation Planning Manager Michael Zayas-Morales said after the meeting that the bike and scooter program would incur few costs to the town.
“We are creating a structure that could be applied easily for town staff to oversee with little to no extra work and time,” he said.
Zayas-Morales said riders will be allowed to take bikes or scooters on selected sidewalks and that the devices would not travel at high speeds.
“They will have to follow the regulations about parking to not block pedestrian flow and follow [Americans with Disabilities Act] requirements,” he said.
Pidermann said “dock-less-mobility devices” can help improve traffic congestion.
He said the goal is to explore if the program will be a good fit for the town and a low-cost options for people making their way through its streets.
He also said it will link riders with public transit, increase physical activity and improve health.
The town is also planning new sidewalks, signage, pavement markings and minor drain improvements for riders and walkers along Northwest 151st Street and Northwest 153rd Street from Miami Lakeway North to Miami Lakes Drive.
The work could begin by the end of 2021 or early next year, and is estimated to cost $740,000, said Carlos Acosta, the town’s public works director.
Bicyclists in Miami Lakes. The Miami Laker file photo.