Bird scooters can be found all around Downtown Ann Arbor.
By Rachel Duckett
Contributor
Bird, a service providing dockless electric scooters across the country, has landed in the city of Ann Arbor, immediately attracting students and clashing with local government.
On their Instagram, pictures of young, stylish Bird users posing with scooters in big cities, and campuses, boasting a cool, new, environmentally friendly way to travel short distances.
However, the up and coming tech service remains unlicensed and is illegal to ride the scooters in Ann Arbor. The city first warned users that they could be ticketed for misuse of the scooters, which led to the confiscation of over 30 Bird scooters that were left on public sidewalks.
“Per City ordinances, it’s unlawful to operate a Bird scooter or any other motorized vehicle on sidewalks. In addition, per the State Motor Vehicle Code, motorized scooters may not be operated in bike lanes, but they may be operated on the road closest to the right curb as is possible,” says Lisa Wondrash, Communications Director for the city of Ann Arbor.
In regards to the future of Bird scooters in Ann Arbor, Wondrash said,
“City staff are actively working with Bird on a licensing agreement to address safety and usage concerns. Once the terms are agreed upon, the licensing agreement would set parameters for where scooters should appropriately and safely be “parked” so as not to impede pedestrian, bicycle and vehicular traffic.”
Bird was founded in 2017 in California by Travis VanderZanden, a former COO of Lyft and Senior Executive at Uber. The service uses a QR code system that can be scanned by a smartphone, and charges users a $1 rental fee, and 15 cents a minute to ride.
Bird waives the initial $1 starting fee in low income communities, and for service members and veterans; these programs are coined “One Bird” and “Red, White, and Bird.”
In an email, Rachel Bankston, corporate communications at Bird, clarified the company’s intentions:
“We’ve challenged the CEOs of other scooter- and bike-sharing companies to sign the Save Our Sidewalks Pledge. Companies that take this pledge will commit to preventing American cities from suffering the same fate of many Chinese cities, where out-of-control vehicle deployment has led to piles of abandoned bicycles over-running sidewalks and polluting public areas.”
This pledge includes nightly pickup of their vehicles, responsible growth, meaning they won’t expand their supply of scooters in any city unless scooters are being used at least three times a day, and revenue sharing, where they remit the initial $1 rental fee to the cities for the purpose of more bike lanes, promoting safe riding, and maintaining shared infrastructure.
For now, U of M’s Division of Public Safety and Security advises students to park scooters in bike racks or moped parking areas, and to never operate the scooters under the influence of drugs or alcohol, as Bird users can be arrested and charged for operating a motor vehicle.
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