The company Bird has taken a step into the future and has created dockless electric scooters that people can now rent. These electric scooters have been popping up in urban cities nationwide, but not without bringing controversy along with them.
Bird was founded in 2017 by Travis VanderZanden. The scooters have been seen in urban areas such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. People can rent the scooter for a $1 and ride for 15 cents per minute. To recharge the scooters, the company has “chargers,” or people who go into the streets at night to charge them. These people get paid $5-$20 for every scooter they charge.
The problem with these scooters is that cities have been shocked to wake up and see that thousands of electric scooters have been dropped onto their sidewalks overnight. The company often ignored many cities’ rules and didn’t ask for permission before dropping the scooters.
Because the scooters are dockless, riders can just grab one, ride for a couple blocks, and leave it wherever they want. The scooters are often left in the middle of the road, doorways, and wheelchair ramps, causing havoc in the city. Advocates for the disabled said they would have trouble moving through the streets if the scooters were just left on sidewalks. The New York Times has reported that some cities, such as San Francisco, have filed charges against the company.
Bird defends itself by saying it didn’t ask for approval from some cities because most of the first cities they asked denied the company without even letting them test out the scooters. So, the company followed Uber’s footsteps and just left the scooters in cities overnight without getting approval. Their plan was to just “ask for forgiveness” if something were to go wrong, but the company was confident that the scooters would be a hit. According to the The New York Times, Caen Contee, the head of marketing, says, “Cities just don’t know what it is. They don’t know how to permit it until they’ve seen it.”
Some have been supporting the scooters since they have provided jobs. David Valladares, a “charger” for Bird, says the company has helped him supplement his income due to the large cost of living in the Bay Area. Bird states that the electric scooters have already taken over the streets of China and are very successful there.
Moreover, the scooters are significantly greener for the environment than cars are. Most millennials have been infatuated with these scooters, riding them to work and back. They provide an easy transit and seem futuristic, which appeals to most of the younger society. VanderZanden states, “We’re not going to be happy until there are more Birds than cars.”
