Electric scooters could be in Moscow’s future

MOSCOW — The City of Moscow is close to finalizing a deal with a company to bring shared-use electric scooters to the city.

The City Council will vote on the one-year license agreement with Spin during its Aug. 5 meeting. This was discussed during Monday’s meeting of the Moscow Administrative Committee.

The agreement allows Spin to deploy up to 150 scooters. It includes rules that are laid out in the city ordinance regarding such devices. Moscow Deputy City Supervisor Cody Riddle said Moscow also consulted with the University of Idaho on the agreement.

The scooters would be prohibited from being used on the sidewalks along Main Street and the downtown alleys in Moscow, but can be used on the street. They can be used on the sidewalk in other parts of the city, but only as fast as 10 mph. They can travel at 15 mph on pathways and 9 mph on the UI campus.

They are not allowed to be parked around Friendship Square or next to the UI’s Student Union Building. They are not permitted in the UI’s arboretums.

Riddle said that using technology called geofencing, the scooters can be prohibited from special events such as the Moscow Farmers Market. Geofencing automatically slows the scooter down to a halt if it is in a prohibited area.

A Spin employee will be responsible for managing the deployment and maintenance of the scooters. The City of Moscow entered into a similar agreement with a company called Bird Rides in 2022 to deploy scooters, but that agreement expired after Bird Rides was unable to hire somebody to handle scooter deployment and maintenance.

The Moscow Police Department is responsible for impounding any scooters.

The Moscow City Council will also vote on a more than $2 million project to install a new emergency radio system for its first responders.

City Supervisor Bill Belknap said Monday that the city’s current radio equipment is more than 20 years old and at the end of its life.

“We have several areas in the community where we do not have coverage, where first responders cannot communicate with dispatch in certain buildings and, actually, even certain outdoor locations within the city,” Belknap said.

If approved, the city will replace its radios at a cost of $1 million and replace its radio system at $1.1 million. The city will install radio repeaters on Moscow Mountain, Paradise Ridge, a Moscow well, City Hall and the Latah County Courthouse.

Belknap said the Latah County Sheriff’s Office uses a separate radio system.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.