Waukesha County, WI Mobility & Curb Rules: Shared E-Scooter Rules (2026)

Section 14-164(i) of the Waukesha County Code lists electric scooters by name alongside self-balancing devices such as segways and hover boards, unicycles, and golf carts, and bars operating or parking any of them on a bridle path, hiking trail, beach area, playground, picnic area, recreational trail, or any other area besides established roads, parking areas, lake access and service areas. The subsection also blocks these devices from a park that is seasonally closed to vehicular traffic or posted closed. Enrolled Ordinance 176-16, effective June 1, 2021, added the electric scooter and self-balancing device language to a traffic-regulations section that previously covered only motor vehicles in general.

An older companion rule, Section 14-164(j), still bars "any motor vehicle" from the same list of trail and beach areas without naming scooters specifically, so the two subsections work together: (i) closes the no-ride zones to the newer micromobility devices by name, while (j) closes them to conventional motor vehicles. Together they mean a rider on an electric scooter, segway or hoverboard in a Waukesha County park is confined to roads, parking lots, lake access points and designated service areas, the same corridors set aside for cars, the moment they leave a paved road or lot.

The county has not adopted a dockless shared-scooter permit program; Section 14-164 regulates where any scooter, owned or shared, may travel once inside a park, not who may operate a rental fleet. Violations carry the general parks forfeiture under Section 14-140: $10 to $600 per offense, with up to 90 days in jail if unpaid, and citations may be issued by staff designated under Section 13-101.