West Springfield residents concerned over Bird scooters left around town

WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - The town of West Springfield has piloted a new electric scooter program with the company Bird, but some residents are raising questions after seeing abandoned scooters around the area and they want to know what rules are in place.

West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt told us that his office has received several complaints over these new electric Bird scooters that were recently brought into town.

“The complaints, at least that my office is receiving, are the way they’re left and the idea is, you know, when you leave it there, you have to take a picture of it, so they know you didn’t damage it,” Reichelt noted.

Hundreds of people of West Springfield have taken to social media to complain about how the Bird scooters have been left around town. Reichelt told us that those who use the scooters can leave them on any sidewalk in the city as long as they are not in the way.

“You’re supposed to put it off to the side of the sidewalk, so folks can still get by and this is only the second week, so I think there’s a learning process using the scooter,” Reichelt explained.

We asked Reichelt to explain who is in charge of picking up the bird scooters.

“There is a local contractor that picks them up and moves them around and charges them, so there is someone watching them. It’s not u, but there is an individual that’s contracted by Bird to keep an eye on them,” Reichelt said.

He also added that anyone with issues or complaints can head to the city’s website where you can get in contact with the scooter company Bird. He also reminded residents to be patient as it is a trial program in the city that goes through October.

“It’s something new. Change is always difficult, I understand that, but we can’t really make progress if we don’t try new things out in town. If it doesn’t work, we can reevaluate this winter and not bring them back, but we don’t know until we try it out for a few months,” Reichelt explained.

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