Houston City Council’s Quality of Life Committee spent Thursday debating whether to ban all electric scooters — rental and privately owned — from Downtown, Midtown, and East Downtown.

“We don’t want scooters on the sidewalks, just as we don’t encourage people to ride bikes on the sidewalks. A: The Chapter 26 amendment specifically prohibits the commercial display and rentals of motor-assisted scooters in the public right-of-way. This means that parking in a legal public parking space for the purpose of renting scooters is prohibited. The public right-of-way is for the public use of pedestrians, public vehicular traffic, and utilities. Personal riders are subject to citations for violating the prohibition of riding motor-assisted scooters on sidewalks.