Bird scooters, an electric scooter sharing company, has been operating in Auburn without a business license since Aug. 28, a city spokesperson said.
The City of Auburn began impounding the scooters, said David Dorton, director of public affairs for the city.
“Once the City learned of this we contacted them to cease operation until they obtained a business license,” Dorton told The Plainsman. “Absent a business license, they were then given a day to remove the scooters. Scooters that were not removed have been impounded accordingly.”
Dorton said the city and the company are working together on issuing a business license and public safety related issues.
"Auburn shares Bird's vision of getting cars off the road to help reduce traffic and carbon emissions," said a Bird spokesman. "We have reached out to city officials and are having conversations about building a framework that will allow the people of Auburn access to our affordable, environmentally friendly transportation option."
The scooters arrived in Auburn on Aug. 28 as a part of the company’s University Pop-up Tour.
Riders can locate a scooter nearest to them on the Bird app. Once a rider finds a scooter, they can unlock it on the app to ride it to their destination for an initial $1 then 15 cents per minute, according to Bird’s website and the Bird app.
Bird encourages riders to follow the rules of the road and ride with a helmet.
The scooters are meant to be ridden in bike lanes and then parked by bike racks or out of public pathways when riders have reached their destination. Rider then need to end their ride in the app so they will stop being charged for using the scooter, according to the website.
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Elizabeth, senior in journalism and political science, is the community editor for The Plainsman
