Bird has placed electric rental scooters in 300 cities across the world. But after hearing a presentation from company representative Michael Butler, the Mexico City Council decided not to add to …
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Bird has placed electric rental scooters in 300 cities across the world. But after hearing a presentation from company representative Michael Butler, the Mexico City Council decided not to add to that number.
“I don’t think we’ve seen a push from our constituents,” observed council member Steve Haag.
The Santa Monica, California-based Bird proposed a pilot program that would place 50 rental scooters in Mexico. The company has been expanding operations into small and mid-sized cities like Fulton and Galesburg in Illinois.
People rent scooters through an app, dropping them off at their destination. Rentals are based on a fee plus usage schedule. Butler explained that a local resident would be responsible for collecting and recharging scooters.
With GPS monitoring, the company is able to establish no ride zones to keep riders from taking scooters into dangerous areas or neighborhoods city officials would deem off limits.
But there have been injuries and disputes between the company and residents in other cities. San Francisco sent cease and desist letters to a Bird subsidiary after multiple permit violations. In other cities complaints have focused on scooters left overnight in yards or on sidewalks.
City Council members noted these issues and brought up other concerns, such as narrow streets, the lack of bicycle lanes and enforcement of regulations. Rentals are for people 18 and up, but because it is an app-based service there is no enforcement mechanism.
“We’d have trouble keeping younger kids off of them,” said council member Vicki Briggs.
Butler — who appeared before the council remotely — admitted to never having been to Mexico or studied its streets. But he informed council members that Bird operates the service in similar cities, citing Poplar Bluff.
“We know the program has worked there,” he noted.
The council determined that while there would be no cost to the city to allow the service, the only benefit would be sales tax. And because the company carries only limited insurance, there are potential liabilities in case of accident.
Butler claimed that one accident occurred for every 27,000 miles. But city manager Bruce Slagle said incidents have been on the rise.
In the end the council was unanimous in declining to proceed with the discussion.