The city of Reno served a bicycle rental company with a cease-and-desist order after it deployed 100 motorized scooters without receiving authorization from the city council.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that the move by the company Lime drew fire from the cities of Reno and Sparks, and UNR has banned the bikes from campus.
The heart of the dispute has to do with how the motorized bikes are classified under Nevada law, either as scooters, which are not regulated by local or state laws, or mopeds, which require DMV registration.
A DMV spokesperson said that because of their limited speed, the scooters are classified as electric bicycles rather than mopeds, and hence are not subject to DMV registration requirements.
That classification is at odds with Reno, Sparks, and UNR.
Lime, in turn, says it will pull out of Northern Nevada if any government entities try to stop it from deploying scooters.