McAlester council approves agreement with Bird scooters
Jun. 23—Bird is the word in McAlester.
City councilors voted Tuesday to authorize Mayor John Browne to sign a memorandum of understanding with Bird Rides, Inc. to deploy up to 75 electric standup scooters in McAlester.
Browne and Councilors Weldon Smith, Billy Jack Boatright, and Steve Cox voted to approve the item.
Bird Rides, Inc. is a vehicle sharing company founded in 2017 focusing on electric standup scooters and has expanded to more than 150 cities globally.
The city's memo states electric standing scooters shall be governed by the rules applying to bicycles and are to be ridden on streets, bike lands and bike paths.
Bird will provide at least 50 scooters at launch and the scooters will be made available from 4 a.m. to midnight.
The agreement comes at no cost to the city and Bird must provide proof of insurance to the city, per the agreement.
Either party can terminate the agreement at any time with 30 days written notice. A local franchisee will be responsible for charging, maintenance, etc.
New Bird users must download the app, sign a user agreement, verify an age of at least 18, add a credit card, and complete educational tutorials on how to operate the scooters.
The scooters have a 20-mile range and will not be restricted to downtown McAlester, city officials said.
Bird charges $1 to start and a per-minute fee with averages around $5 per ride, the company states.
The app send a notification to the user when venturing into a restricted zone.
Bird can create a designated parking zone within the app through geofencing. Users must verify their vehicle is upright and parked properly at the end of each ride with a photo.
Contact Adrian O'Hanlon III at aohanlon@mcalesternews.com
