Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program FY2026-27

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 1
City of Berkeley: Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program (SEMPP)
Application
I. Introduction
The City of Berkeley has seen significant growth in new mobility services, from on-demand ridehailing
services to app-enabled transportation options like car sharing and bicycle sharing. The accelerated
development of these technologies has the potential to dramatically shape cities in the next few
decades. New mobility services can help the City achieve its goals in equity, livability, and sustainability;
however, new technologies can also be disruptive and leave the marginalized further and further
behind. The purpose of the regulations herein is to maximize public benefits while mitigating negative
impacts through the issuance of permits for the deployment of shared electric micromobility devices
("Devices") within the City of Berkeley (the "City"). Below are the Citys goals, defini(cid:415)ons, terms and
conditions, and application procedure for the Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program.
II. Permit Goals
* Provide dockless shared electric micromobility devices as an option for City of Berkeley residents.
* Diversify mobility options of residents, employees, and visitors to Berkeley.
* Protect public health and safety.
* Avoid waste by ensuring the Devices in Berkeley are robust enough for commercial use.
* Avoid sidewalk, pathway, and pedestrian ramp blockages.
* Reduce emissions from short trips and connections to transit.
* Maximize user awareness of safe and legal behaviors for operating shared mobility devices.
* Create an enforceable framework for managing shared mobility services.
* Ensure use of the Public Right of Way (PROW) benefits public mobility.
* Ensure private operators respond to pervasive issues and service complaints.

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 2
City of Berkeley SEMPP Application Submittal Process
Solicitation Process
The SEMPP permit application solicitation period is open from April 15, 2026 through May 15, 2026.
Operators may submit questions regarding the application prior to application submittal. The deadline
to submit questions is 11:59 p.m. (PST) on April 29, 2026. Please submit questions to:
sharedmobility@berkeleyca.gov
Responses to all questions will be posted to the City's Bid & Proposal Opportunities Webpage by May 6,
2026.
Required Application Format
Please review the Terms and Conditions in detail, and submit the following items:
one (1) digital (pdf) copy of the application (maximum file size: 20 MB)
one (1) scanned copy (pdf) of the application fee check
An application fee of $2,000 is due upon submission of an application.
Application fee checks should be made payable to: "The City of Berkeley"
Method for Delivery
Application packets must be delivered electronically via email per the instructions below:
Email application packet to: sharedmobility@berkeleyca.gov
Include in the email subject line: "SEMPP 2026 Permit Application"
The application submittal deadline is 2:00 p.m. (PST) on May 15, 2026.
Physical checks should be mailed to the address listed below. To maintain application eligibility, physical
checks must be postmarked no later than May 20, 2026.
Send physical check to:
City of Berkeley c/o Jennifer Sajor
Public Works - Transportation Division
1947 Center St, 4th Floor
Berkeley, CA, 94704

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 3
City of Berkeley SEMPP Selection Criteria and Process
Permit Fees
Required Fee Due
Upon application review and permit issuance, this fee will be due no
Annual Permit Fee: $25,000 later than 30 days after permit issuance date.
Upon application review and permit issuance, this fee will be due no
Permitted Device Fee: $71 per device later than 30 days after permit issuance date.
Permit fee checks should be made payable to: "The City of Berkeley"
Send physical check to:
City of Berkeley c/o Jennifer Sajor
Public Works - Transportation Division
1947 Center St, 4th Floor
Berkeley, CA, 94704
Permits issued this cycle will be valid through June 30, 2027.
Selection Criteria and Process
The City is seeking reputable and qualified Operators as permit applicants. Every permit applicant will be
scored on each principle on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being extremely unqualified and 10 being
extremely qualified. A minimum total score of 70 is required to obtain a permit. Based on the Terms and
Conditions of this program, not all applications meeting the minimum requirements will be granted
permits. The City reserves the right to limit the number of permitted Operators.
(1) Inclusive outreach and engagement
(2) Traffic safety
(3) Equitable access to services
(4) Affordability
(5) Healthy communities and environment
(6) Employment and economic development
(7) Privacy and personal data
(8) Collaboration and accountability
The selection committee will consist of City staff with knowledge and experience in issues
related to electric shared micromobility devices.
Appeals Process
Any decision by the selection committee to deny a permit application may be reviewed by the Deputy
Director of Public Works or their designee upon timely submission of a request for reconsideration. Any
request for reconsideration shall be submitted in writing to the Deputy Director within 10 days of the
date the application is denied. City response will be provided prior to permits being awarded.

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 4
Permit Application
(1) Application Information
Business Name
Business Address
City, State, and Zip Code
Mailing Address (if different from business address)
City, State, and Zip Code
Website
General Company Contact Phone
General Company Contact Email Address
(2) Contact Information
Primary Contact Name
Title
Phone Number
Email Address
Secondary Contact Name
Title
Phone Number
Email Address
(3) Terms and Conditions Agreement
(I/We), the undersigned, declare, under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California,
that (I am/we are) the owner(s) or authorized representative(s) of the entity of this application; that
(I/We) have received a copy of the legal terms and conditions for the Shared Electric Micromobility
Permit Program, and (I/We) agree to the terms and conditions for the permit for which (my/our)
company is applying; and that the information on all plans, drawings, and sketches attached hereto
and all the statements and answers contained herein are, in all respects, true and correct.
Printed Name(s)
Authorized Signature(s)
Date

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 5
(4) Application Materials
In your application, please provide responses to the questions below. Please review the Terms and
Conditions, and incorporate how you will meet or exceed these terms in your responses. Responses to
Sections A through M are limited to 30 pages. Applicants must adhere to this page limit. Any content
submitted in excess of the stated page limit will not be reviewed or considered as part of the
application.
(A) Company Overview and Pricing Structure: Provide a brief overview of your company including:
(1) Description of pricing structure including low-income and other discounted customer plans,
detailing cash payment options.
(B) Scooter Availability and Service Area
(1) Proposed hours of operation.
(2) Storage of devices during non-operational hours.
(3) Proposed fleet size and service area at launch.
(a) How many devices do you propose to deploy in different portions of the service
area, including disadvantaged communities? Applicants should bear in mind that the
permit program provides for a maximum of 1200 devices in total for the City of
Berkeley. (The City will award permits to a maximum of three (3) operators).
(4) How would your deployment area change depending on the number of scooters you are
permitted for?
(5) Describe methods for deploying and redistributing scooters.
(6) Would your service area apply to where users are allowed to deposit scooters?
(7) Provide map of proposed service area.
(C) Plan for Safe Riding and Storage of Devices
(1) Proposed approach to ensure compliance with laws - The City of Berkeley will monitor the
degree to which shared electric micromobility users comply with applicable laws,
particularly related to riding on sidewalks and safe parking of devices. If the City of Berkeley
in its sole discretion determines that the grantee's users are not sufficiently compliant with
applicable laws, the City of Berkeley may require that the permit implement additional
measures or may revoke the permit.
(2) Describe the education, incentives, training, scooter modifications, notification systems,
infrastructure, etc. you propose.
(3) Describe how you would monitor compliance, including any technology innovations that
allow monitoring, and how you would address users who are noncompliant.
(4) Describe how you would coordinate with the City of Berkeley to phase-in additional
measures if your initial approach does not achieve desired levels of compliance.
(5) The City of Berkeley is a tethering/lock-to system. Describe the tether or locking mechanism
for your devices to be secured to fixed objects. How will you ensure users properly engage
the locking mechanisms on your devices? How will you ensure your locking mechanisms are

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 6
properly functioning?
(6) How will you ensure customers have valid driver's licenses?
(7) How will you work with University staff to appease their operational demands? (Example:
geofenced reduced speeds and no parking zones)
(8) What are your geofencing capabilities and how would you work with City Staff to
implement?
(9) The City is interested in utilizing designated shared scooter parking zones. Describe how you
will integrate designated shared scooter parking zones into your current operations to
improve user parking compliance. How will you evaluate the effectiveness of your stategy?
(D) Recharging Plan
(1) Describe how devices will be recharged.
(2) How will you know when a devices needs to be recharged?
(3) Will independent contractors be used to charge devices? If so, describe the incentive
structure for charging devices and any information provided to contractors concerning safe
charging practices.
(4) How will you minimize potential negative impacts associated with practices related to
collecting, redistributing, and recharging devices? Will you document new vehicle miles
generated by collecting, redistributing and charging activities?
(E) Maintenance, Cleaning and Zero Waste Plan
(1) Detail the use life of your device, including but not limited to material
sourcing/construction, battery lifespan, reuse capabilities, and disposal practice of the
device and its parts.
(a) This should detail past device life-spans, not just projected and/or future iterations
of your proposed device and its components.
(2) How will you know when a device needs maintenance?
(3) Describe approach to maintenance, cleaning, and repair of device.
(a) At what frequency and extent do you maintain the scooters? Who conducts this
maintenance?
(4) Describe how you will comply with the City's (and University's) zero waste and producer
responsibility policies, including taking responsibility for the devices throughout their life
cycles by properly managing hazardous components including batteries, reducing the need
for new devices through repair, redistributing for reuse, and recycling or otherwise properly
disposing of all component parts.
(5) What fleet size is needed to maintain a given number of active scooters?
(F) Hiring and Labor Plan
(1) Describe the staffing plan, including hired staff and contractors, for operation and
maintenance of your scooter share program.
(2) Describe how your hiring plan will comply with local laws and best practices regarding equal
opportunity, local hiring, and fair wages.

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 7
(3) Describe how you will use local hiring practices to give underserved segments of the
Berkeley population a career path within the scooter and/or technology industry. Jobs that
have upward mobility and not just gig economy (contractual) employment?
(4) Describe how you will approach transparency with any contractors related to hourly rate
and net of job related expenses.
(5) Does your business model rely on gig-economy employees or will you hire permanent full
and part time staff regarding operations such as charging and rebalancing?
(6) Will you provide skills training for potential staff and contractors?
(G) Community Outreach Plan
(1) What community outreach have you done or would you plan to do with stakeholder groups,
merchants, and residents in the neighborhoods you are considering serving?
(2) Describe any strategies to provide community benefits, partner with community benefit
organizations, minimize disruption in neighborhood commercial districts, implement a
culturally relevant and multilingual communications plan, and to equitably promote the use
of scooter sharing systems citywide among low income communities.
(H) History, Experience and Qualifications
(1) Describe your qualifications to operate a shared electric micromobility program including
experience operating shared mobility programs in North America.
(2) If you have ever operated a shared electric micromobility program in North America,
particularly including Bay Area cities, describe how you complied with applicable laws,
including your efforts to ensure compliance by your users with applicable laws, your efforts
to work in good faith with staff from the cities you may already be operating in, and your
expeditious compliance with previous enforcement efforts and payment of administrative
charges for right-of-way violations (including sidewalk obstruction).
(3) List all legal or regulatory enforcement actions, by type, initiated against your company.
(4) List and describe all lawsuits ever filed against your company relating to personal injury,
financial reporting, and regulatory compliance.
(5) List any manufacturing recalls or decommissions you have had to make, for any component,
for any scooter in service, domestically or nationally, and what you organization did to
remedy them.
(6) Provide references and contacts for other North American cities in which you operate.
(I) Privacy Policy, User Agreements, and Terms of Service
(1) Provide any privacy policies, user agreements, and/or terms of service in plain text for
review.
(2) Provide screen images of all locations where this language would be shared with customers
including method for obtaining user acknowledgement/agreement.

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Application March 2026
Page 8
(J) Images and Description of Powered Scooter
(1) Provide a detailed description of all device types you propose to deploy and their parts,
including the placement and size of the unique device identification tag and contact
information, and images of the branded device you propose for Berkeley.
(2) Include dimensions and technical specifications.
Images and Description of Mobile Application
Screen images of rental process.
Screen images of proper device use and public education (example: in-app instructions on
how and where to ride).
Proof of Insurance
Please attach a certificate of insurance as well as an endorsement of additional insured, per
specifications included in theTerms and Conditions. If you have not yet purchased insurance meeting
these specifications, supply a statement of intent to obtain this insurance in advance of being issued a
franchise. The City of Berkeley will require certificates of insurance as well as an endorsement of
Commercial General Liability and Commercial Automobile Liability insurance showing the City as an
additional insured before issuing a permit to accepted applicants.
(M) Data Sharing Agreement
(1) Will your organization agree to the national data reporting standard of MDS GitHub protocol
- Specifically the data reporting methods that have been implements by Los Angeles
Department of Transportation?
(2) How will your organization provide this data to the City?
(N) Additional Attachments
Please attach the following to this application:
(1) Attachment A and Proof of Insurance
(2) Copy of Business License
(3) Copy of user agreements, user privacy, and user data collection policies
(4) Additional plans, drawings, sketches, and maps to add to your application

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Terms & Conditions March 2026
Page 1
City of Berkeley: Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program (SEMPP)
I. Introduction
The City of Berkeley has seen significant growth in new mobility services, from on-demand ridehailing
services to app-enabled transportation options like car sharing and bicycle sharing. The accelerated
development of these technologies has the potential to dramatically shape cities in the next few
decades. New mobility services can help the City achieve its goals in equity, livability, and sustainability;
however, new technologies can also be disruptive and leave the marginalized further and further
behind. The purpose of the regulations herein is to maximize public benefits while mitigating negative
impacts through the issuance of permits for the deployment of shared electric micromobility devices
("Devices") within the City of Berkeley (the "City"). Below are the Citys goals, defini(cid:415)ons, terms and
conditions, and application procedure for the Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program.
II. Permit Goals
* Provide dockless shared electric micromobility devices as an option for City of Berkeley residents.
* Diversify mobility options of residents, employees, and visitors to Berkeley.
* Protect public health and safety.
* Avoid waste by ensuring the Devices in Berkeley are robust enough for commercial use.
* Avoid sidewalk, pathway, and pedestrian ramp blockages.
* Reduce emissions from short trips and connections to transit.
* Maximize user awareness of safe and legal behaviors for operating shared mobility devices.
* Create an enforceable framework for managing shared mobility services.
* Ensure use of the Public Right of Way (PROW) benefits public mobility.
* Ensure private operators respond to pervasive issues and service complaints.
III. Definitions
(A) "Adaptive Shared Electric Micromobility Device" or "Adaptive Device" means an electric-assisted
scooter, tricycle, or bicycle that is accessible to people with various physical disabilities. Adaptive
Devices must include three wheels (or be self-balancing), a seat, and a basket or storage area large
enough to hold a cane. When used in this document, the terms Shared Electric Micromobility Device
or Device shall include an Adaptive Device unless otherwise noted.
(B) "ADA" related complaint means any report or notification that a Shared Electric Mobility Device is
placed, parked, or operated in a manner that obstructs or interferes with accessibility features or
required accessible routes under applicable law, including but not limited to the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), and that requires expedited response to prevent or remove barriers to access.
ADA-related complaints include, but are not limited to, Devices obstructing curb ramps, accessible
parking spaces or access aisles, transit boarding areas, the public right of way, building entrances,
sidewalks, or the pedestrian path of travel.
(C) "Amenity Zone" is the portion of the sidewalk between the curb and the Pedestrian Zone in which

City of Berkeley, Public Works - Transportation Division
Shared Electric Micromobility Permit Program - Terms & Conditions March 2026
Page 2
street furniture and amenities, such as lighting, benches, utility poles, tree wells, and bicycle
parking, are provided. It is located between the curb and the Pedestrian Zone of the sidewalk. (See
Berkeley Pedestrian Plan Figure B-2.)
(D) "City Manager" means the City Manager or their designee.
(E) "Equity Priority Communities" means the most recent census tracts or block groups designated as
Equity Priority Communities by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
(F) "Fleet Cap" is the maximum allowable number of Devices an Operator can deploy within the city
boundary, at a specific time.
(G) "Deployment" means the placement of devices by the Shared Electric Micromobility system
operator.
(H) "Indemnitee" means the individual or entity that is being indemnified and held harmless by another.
(I) "Pedestrian Zone" is the portion of the sidewalk for walking and pedestrian travel. (See Berkeley
Pedestrian Plan Figure B-2.)
(J) Resolved Complaint means a complaint for which the Operator has corrected the underlying issue
identified in the complaint, including removal or repositioning of a Device where applicable, and has
confirmed resolution to the complainant and the City.
(K) "Roadway" is defined in Section 530 of the California Vehicle Code or any successor statute.
(L) "Shared Electric Micromobility Device" or "Device" means an electrically-powered device for short-
term rental for point-to-point trips where, by design of the shared electric micromobility operator,
the device is intended to remain in the public-right-of-way, even when not being rented, and is not
required to be docked in a designated docking station for rental. "Devices" include electric-assisted
scooters and bicycles.
(1) "Device(s)" may include:
(a) "Electric Scooter" or "Scooter" - any two-wheeled device that has handlebars, has a
floorboard that is designed to be stood upon when riding, and is powered by an
electric motor, as defined in Section 407.5 of the California Vehicle Code;
(b) "Electric Bicycle" or "Bicycle" - A Class 1 Electric Bicycle or Class 2 Electric Bicycle as
defined in Section 312.5 of the California Vehicle Code;
(c) "Electric Motorized Bicycle" - A fully motorized two-wheeled device with a seat,
footrest and an electric motor of no more than 750 watts; or
(d) "Electric Tricycle" - a three-wheeled device with a seat and an electric motor of no
more than 750 watts.
(M) "Shared Electric Micromobility System Operator" or "Operator" is an entity that owns and/or
operates a Shared Electric Micromobility System in the public-right-of-way. The term includes any
employee, agent, or independent contractor hired or retained by the Operator.
(N) "Shared Electric Micromobility Permittee" or "Permittee" is an entity that is issued a Permit by the
City to operate a Shared Electric Micromobility System in the public-right-of-way.