LOCAL

Bird scooters set to return to Appleton, Neenah and Menasha, despite concerns

Duke Behnke
Appleton Post-Crescent
A Bird scooter leans against a building in the 200 block of East College Avenue in Appleton.

APPLETON - Bird electric scooters are poised to return to Appleton for a third year and to Neenah and Menasha for a second year, despite lingering concerns over safety, parking and aesthetics.

Appleton's agreement with Bird Rides Inc. restricts the number of scooters in the city to 350, with an initial deployment of no more than 100 in the downtown area between Wisconsin Avenue and Calumet Street and no more than 50 north of Wisconsin and 50 south of Calumet.

Bird will deploy no more than 75 scooters in Neenah and 75 in Menasha.

Appleton will receive 20 cents for every ride to recoup its administrative, educational and enforcement expenses associated with the program. In the first two years, Bird paid the city 10 cents per ride.

The payments to Neenah and Menasha remain at 10 cents per ride.

The Appleton and Neenah councils will consider the agreements with Bird next week. Menasha approved its agreement earlier this month.

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What are the benefits of Bird scooters?

Bird is an app-based dockless scooter sharing program headquartered in Santa Monica, California. The company's founder and CEO, Travis VanderZanden, is a 1997 graduate of Appleton North High School.

Customers locate the stand-up, battery-powered scooters through the app, rent them by the minute and leave them at their destination point. There are no fixed locations where rides must begin or end.

The benefits of the scooters include additional transportation options and reduced reliance on motor vehicles for short trips, less traffic congestion and air pollution, and expanded access to tourist destinations.

Bird scooters line College Avenue in Appleton.

Are the scooters widely used?

Appleton's 2022 program recorded 12,305 users, 58,133 trips and 109,818 miles traveled. The number of trips more than doubled and the number of miles traveled more than tripled from 2021.

Bird said the program avoided the release of 15.48 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is one of the main greenhouse gases.

In Neenah, Bird reported 2,969 riders, 12,101 trips and 33,640 miles traveled, avoiding the release of 4.52 metric tons of CO2.

In Menasha, Bird reported 1,366 riders, 5,523 trips and 10,907 miles traveled, avoiding 1.54 metric tons of CO2.

What are concerns with Bird scooters?

Residents and elected officials expressed safety concerns with underage and intoxicated riders. The agreements state that riders must be age 18 or older.

"I've seen teenagers doubling up on Birds and not acting very smart using them on College Avenue," Appleton council member Alex Schultz said.

Bird has the ability to enable an identification check on its app to restrict underage riders, but the company prefers to limit its use because it can be a barrier to transportation for people who don't have an ID.

Improperly parked scooters that block sidewalks and driveways are another common concern.

Appleton council member Vered Meltzer, speaking to the Municipal Services Committee, encouraged his colleagues to end the Bird program due to ongoing concerns.

"I consider the Bird scooters to have a significant safety risk and impact on our community," Meltzer said.

Schultz recognized the concerns but favored continuing the program. It passed in committee 4-0.

"I think the records for the last two pilot years have shown that the safety issue is not as significant as we might have anticipated," Schultz said, "and given the fact that we're considering the redesignation of some lanes on College Avenue, which I expect to happen, I think that safety risk becomes a little bit less than what it is currently."

Why did Appleton negotiate a higher fee?

Appleton council member Chad Doran requested that the fee per ride be increased, and negotiations between the city and Bird settled on 20 cents per ride.

Based on the 2022 numbers, the fee would generated about $11,600 annually for the city.

Doran said the program should generate revenue for Appleton beyond just recouping its expenses.

"Given the number of people in the city who will never use the scooters, don't like seeing the scooters, don't like hassling with what the scooters bring," Doran said, "... I felt that there has to be some sort of offset for the community to see some sort of benefit from this beyond just making sure that our costs were covered."

Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.