As electric scooters have proliferated in California cities this year, a lot of local governments and citizens have voiced increasing concern about some problems their riders can cause — blocking sidewalk access for people with disabilities, riding in places they aren’t supposed to, putting pedestrians in danger, etc.
Now Bird, which is based in Santa Monica and has deployed its scooters in about 40 U.S. cities, has released a tool meant to help local government address some of those problems.
The “GovTech Platform” will give those governments four functions to start off with, according to a press release from the company:
-- Geofencing: The Bird app will let riders know where in the city they can ride and park. The feature can reflect changes the city makes to where riding and parking are allowed.
-- Data dashboard: Local governments will be able to access aggregated data via API to see vehicle status and trip information.
-- Rider education: The app will give users information about local rules and how to ride safely as they begin a ride, including customizable messages from the city.
-- Crowdsourced issue reporting: Called “community mode,” this feature will allow users to report unsafe behavior and rule violations, and the company will be able to warn riders or take other actions against repeat offenders.
The data and geofencing functions are two areas local governments have been increasingly interested in as companies like Bird have spread across the country. Many cities and counties have written data-sharing requirements into the permit applications they make scooter companies fill out. Data, after all, can be useful for a number of purposes — informing policy, understanding how scooter riding impacts transit ridership, identifying whether disadvantaged communities have access and figuring out whether riders are following the rules, to name a few.
San Jose, Austin and Denver — all of which Bird operates in — have each explored requiring e-scooter companies to offer some form of geofencing capability to address people riding and parking in places they aren’t supposed to.
Though the relationship between e-scooter companies and the cities they operate in has at times been fraught, Bird framed the launch of the platform as a step toward a more cooperative relationship.
“The cities we serve are Bird’s number-one customer, and partnering with them to deliver the data, insights and products they need to advance their mobility programs and reduce congestion in their communities is essential,” said Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden in the statement.
