By Bruce Karnick [email protected] The Bird Scooters that first hit the streets of Hastings in April have already been removed from service. The scooters have been deactivated until further …
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By Bruce Karnick
The Bird Scooters that first hit the streets of Hastings in April have already been removed from service. The scooters have been deactivated until further notice due to there being no fleet manager to care for the scooters.
The Journal reached out to the parent company, bird.co for comment and as of press day there was no reply.
Fleet Managers for Bird purchase the scooters and the contract for the area they are servicing. That means they also have to pay for any repairs to damaged scooters. Earlier in the summer, scooters were found in the Vermillion River below the foot bridge. The trip down for the scooter is pretty simple, get tossed over the edge. The trip down for a fleet manager, not so simple and the location of the scooters in the water is also difficult to reach. Then to haul the scooters back up to the trail and to a vehicle when the scooter is inoperable would be even more difficult. The damage from the fall along with the water damage to the electronics is very costly.
The contract for Bird does run through the end of the year.
