Overview
- City Council voted 13–0 to prohibit operating or renting e-scooters, other micromobility devices and ATVs citywide from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. on public rights-of-way.
- The ordinance authorizes HPD and city regulators to impound violating devices, sets fines up to $500 per offense with $100 retrieval fees, and bans rentals from temporary pop-up structures.
- Exemptions apply to personally owned devices used for commuting or emergencies and to devices used by first responders or city employees.
- Officials pointed to data showing 78% of scooter-related EMS calls occur between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., alongside 2021–2025 enforcement totals of 129 seizures, 74 impounds, 3,016 warnings, 51 citations, five guns recovered and eight arrests.
- The rules take effect now after Council Member Julian Ramirez dropped a delay attempt in exchange for a Quality of Life Committee review in early December, as scooter operators and equity advocates press for changes and Houston First supports the curfew.