ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It doesn’t take long to spot an e-scooter parked on a sidewalk in downtown. However, the City of Albuquerque is asking riders to think twice before you park after getting complaints from business owners along Nob Hill. 

“It was impacting their business to where some of these scooters were parked like directly in front of their doors,” said Jeremy Keiser, the Code Enforcement deputy director for the City of Albuquerque. 

Aside from complaints, they said it’s just not safe to park e-scooters at crosswalks or sidewalks. The city ended up fining the vendors $100 to relocate scooters to the right place. 

“We picked up approximately 50 of the scooters that were illegally parked. These are ones that were blocking sidewalks, creating issues with ADA accommodations,” said Keiser. 

KOB 4 reached out to one of the vendors, Lime, about the issue. They’re aware and are working on educating New Mexicans about proper use. 

“One of the first things I am excited to talk about is that we are the only operator so far in the city who have launched mandatory parking zones in high traffic areas in the city like City Hall,” said Charlie Mastoloni, the Senior Manager Government Relations for Lime. 

We asked the city their opinion about the move, Keiser said, “I think that’s a great start and I think that is one avenue the vendor can utilize to make sure that these e-scooters are parked in a safe location.” 

He added that vendors should also take more of a hands-on approach and patrol certain areas. 

Mastoloni said they plan on doing just that, in addition to building parking corrals and improving their response times when people send in complaints. 

“We want to be as proactive as possible to be good partners with the city and the community, so we are happy to take action,” he said.