Fremont, CA Mobility & Curb Rules: Shared E-Scooter Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Permit issuer
- Public works director
- State authority
- Cal. Gov't Code Sec. 38775
- Covered vehicles
- Bicycles, e-bikes, motorized scooters
- E-bike motor cap
- Under 750 watts
- Pilot period
- One year, single operator allowed
- Violation unit
- Per day, per vehicle infraction
Summary
Fremont requires a city permit before any company can operate a bike-share or scooter-share fleet in the public right-of-way under Municipal Code Chapter 10.35. The public works director issues permits, designates parking areas, and can run the program as a one-year single-operator pilot before the council adopts lasting regulations.
(a) No person shall operate a SAT program within any public right-of-way within the city without a SAT permit issued by the public works director, and any such permit may be subject to reasonable conditions. ... (d) The operation of a SAT program in violation of this chapter or any regulation promulgated hereunder is hereby declared to be a nuisance, and the public works director and police chief, or their designees, are hereby designated as enforcement officers for purposes of abating any such nuisance. Each violation of this section shall additionally constitute a separate infraction for each day that the violation occurs and for each SAT vehicle to which the violation pertains, and remedies available for any such violation shall be cumulative.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 02-2026, passed May 5, 2026).
Full Breakdown
35, enacted under Cal. Gov't Code Section 38775's encroachment authority and Cal. Veh. 040(a). 030 covers a bicycle, an electric bicycle (defined as a bicycle with operable pedals and a motor under 750 watts), or a two-wheeled motorized scooter with handlebars and a stand-on floorboard. 040(b) lets the public works director run a one-year pilot period through a service agreement with a single operator instead of issuing permits broadly, so the city could initially limit the program to one company citywide. Before that pilot ends, subsection (c) requires the director to propose, and the council to adopt by resolution, lasting SAT regulations covering where and how vehicles may be parked or stored, the permit application and appeal process, a cap on the total number of permits issued, penalties, and a revocation process for repeated noncompliance.
050 lets the director designate exclusive parking areas in the right-of-way, marked with signage or pavement markings under Cal. Veh. Code Section 21210, and can restrict a given area to a single operator if that serves the public interest while treating all permitted operators fairly overall. 040(d), with each day of violation and each affected vehicle counted as a separate infraction.
Violations & Fines
Operating an SAT fleet in the Fremont right-of-way without a valid permit is declared a public nuisance under Section 10.35.040(d), and the public works director and police chief are designated enforcement officers who can abate it. Each day a violation continues, and each individual scooter or bicycle involved, counts as a separate infraction, so an unpermitted fleet can accumulate citations quickly rather than face a single citywide fine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a company need a permit to drop scooters around Fremont?
Can Fremont limit shared scooters to just one company?
Where are shared scooters and bikes allowed to be parked in Fremont?
What happens if a scooter company operates in Fremont without a permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fremont
California rules heatmap·Compare Fremont to another location·View the California mobility & curb rules overview
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