A group that sees electrified scooters as the answer to transportation gaps in Bloomington-Normal says it’s making progress on a yearslong effort to bring a rentable fleet to the community.
Modern Mobility, led by a small group of local entrepreneurs and business owners, wants to bring a commercial fleet of as many as 300 to 400 Bird e-scooters to Bloomington-Normal. Illinois State University students who live off-campus are the primary target. A rental would cost $1, plus 49 cents per minute.
“A lot of ISU students come from the Chicago area. They’re really familiar with these. They use them as part of the public transit system,” said Kristin Rae, an ISU alum who co-owns Modern Mobility. “We just saw a gap here.”
The idea is the easy part. Modern Mobility – or anyone looking to do this – face big legal and safety barriers that have taken years to clear. Rae and the other Modern Mobility’s owners have been trying behind-the-scenes for four years and are only now going public. They say e-scooters will lead to “less traffic, cleaner air and safer streets,” part of a broader movement toward micromobility devices in the U.S.
“There’s a little bit more of a transportation than recreation aspect to what we’re thinking,” Rae said. “It would be a great way to traverse different parts of the city.”
Changing state law
One of the biggest challenges is an important one: E-scooters are kinda, sorta not legal, depending on how and where they’re used. State law makes it a gray area, Rae said. The law is partly what scuttled a previous attempt to bring e-scooters to Normal in 2019.
Modern Mobility is attacking that head-on. They’ve lobbied for passage in Springfield of SB 1960, which would codify that low-speed e-scooters can be used in the same way that bikes can, while also allowing municipalities to restrict their use if they so choose. The bill, introduced by Democratic state Sen. Dave Koehler, passed the Illinois Senate in March. Rae said they’re hoping it will clear the House in early 2024. State Reps. Sharon Chung and Dan Caulkins, who represent Bloomington-Normal, are both chief co-sponsors.
If that happens, Modern Mobility – acting as a fleet manager for Bird – will seek an agreement with the Town of Normal and City of Bloomington, confirming the e-scooters can use public rights-of-way and giving those local governments additional liability protection, Rae said.
Town of Normal spokesperson Cathy Oloffson confirmed they’ve had discussions with Modern Mobility and Bird. For the town to consider any formal agreements, she said three conditions would need to be met: That change to state law, that the law is “clear that allowing scooters would not increase liability because streets and sidewalks are not designed or maintained for scooter use,” and the town would “want to be in alignment with others in our community like the City of Bloomington and Illinois State University on any formal agreements.”
That last part – “in alignment” – could be difficult. Illinois State University has declined to support the Modern Mobility effort, ISU spokesperson Eric Jome said. ISU “is not planning on entering any contract with Modern Mobility or any e-scooter group for services on campus,” he said.
“Illinois State's efforts to ease campus traffic congestion already include promoting the use of established Redbird shuttle bus routes, walking, and the safe operation of personal bikes and other devices on campus property,” Jome said. “The University’s plan does not include adding additional infrastructure for the rental, charging, and return of commercial e-scooters.”
Safety is a major consideration. This fall ISU launched its new “Dismount Zones,” asking (but without really any enforcement) people to not use bikes and other transportation devices in pedestrian-heavy parts of campus, like the Quad. That followed the pedestrian death of ISU administrator Adam Peck after he collided with a bicyclist in September 2022.
As e-scooters are used in more U.S. cities, the number of injuries has also increased. The number of injuries stemming from e-scooters rose 22% in 2022 from 2021, according to a September report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). There have been 111 fatalities in the U.S. related to e-scooter since 2017, the CPSC reported. Motor-vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death (75), followed by control issues (18) and battery-related fires (4).
Kristin Rae with Modern Mobility said state law and Bird’s technology will mitigate some of these risks, more so than privately owned (non-fleet) e-scooters. State law will restrict the device’s speed to 10 mph, Rae said. GPS geofencing can restrict their use in high-pedestrian areas. Scooters are automatically shut down from 12-5 a.m. when intoxicated people might use them. Misbehaving riders can be banned.
“Technology allows us to manage the fleet in a safe way,” Rae said. She pointed to a study of Chicago’s 2020 e-scooter pilot program, showing a relatively low rate of injury reported by Chicago-area hospitals – about 0.27 per 100,000 trips.
As for ISU’s Dismount Zone, Rae said they envision people riding them in from off-campus apartments, far-away ISU parking lots, or Cardinal Court on the north edge of campus.
“The ISU Quad is not a target market for us, because it’s walkable,” Rae said.
Constitution Trail
Constitution Trail is another big question mark. All forms of motorized vehicles are prohibited (except for emergency and maintenance).
But a clear definition of “motorized vehicle” is elusive, said Patrick Dullard, president of the Friends of the Constitution Trail.
“There’s nothing clear on it, for sure. And so that adds to some of the confusion,” Dullard said.
The trail opened 34 years, long before e-bikes, e-scooters, and electrified wheelchairs were widely available. The rules, Dullard said, haven’t kept pace with tech trends in micromobility.
The Friends group hasn’t taken a formal position on e-scooters. But Dullard said he’d like to see the Town of Normal and City of Bloomington clarify what’s allowed and what’s not. Paired with some education on trail etiquette, Dullard is optimistic that e-devices can safely be used on the trail.
“We’ve gotta come up with some reasonable expectations and guidelines that would allow for everybody to get along, to operate safely both on the trail and throughout the community,” Dullard said.
Meanwhile, the Modern Mobility group continues to lobby support for the idea. They’ve had some informal meetings with off-campus landlords who might be asked to host e-scooter charging “parklets.” They’re seeking a U.S. Department of Transportation grant for an electric charging bank.
