Skip to main content

Bird enables reports of poorly parked and damaged e-scooters

Bird is to roll out an app feature which allows people to report poorly parked or damaged electric scooters to the company. It is an attempt to solve one of the biggest bugbears surrounding the deployment of scooters and dockless bikes – the issue of what happens when users abandon or abuse the vehicles. Bird says the app’s new ‘Community Mode’ will improve parking and safety in the cities where it operates, such as Portland and Salt Lake City. The company will use reports to reposition poorly parked e-s
May 8, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Bird is to roll out an app feature which allows people to report poorly parked or damaged electric scooters to the company.


It is an attempt to solve one of the biggest bugbears surrounding the deployment of scooters and dockless bikes – the issue of what happens when users abandon or abuse the vehicles.

Bird says the app’s new ‘Community Mode’ will improve parking and safety in the cities where it operates, such as Portland and Salt Lake City. The company will use reports to reposition poorly parked e-scooters and make sure damaged models are no longer available for riding. Also, the company will notify mechanics to remove the damaged vehicles from the road to be repaired.  Travis VanderZanden, CEO of Bird, says the company wants to work with communities to help alleviate problems associated with congestion and carbon emissions.

“Community Mode gives any individual the power to engage with Bird in real time so that we can work together on making our streets safer and people-friendly,” VanderZanden adds.

Related Content

  • Moovit, TomTom and Microsoft launch multimodal trip planner
    February 13, 2019
    Mobility as a Service firm Moovit has linked up with TomTom and Microsoft’s Azure Maps to launch a multimodal trip planning app. The companies say it offers users their options for driving a car to park at a station, for example, and taking a train before completing the journey using other modes such as bike. “With most jobs still residing in densely populated cities, the typical commute is becoming multimodal, requiring the suburbanite to first drive to a public transit stop and continue their commut
  • Shaking up the taxi market with smarter ride requests
    February 24, 2016
    Timothy Compston looks at the rise of Uber and ride request mobile apps. There is little doubt that the advent of Uber has come as major shock to established taxi operators and has caused regulators, cities and DOTs to rethink current regulations so they can keep pace with the changing dynamics of the marketplace.
  • Lawmakers must ensure we don’t end up with communications breakdown
    May 10, 2019
    5G – or not 5G? That, with apologies to Hamlet, is the question. It’s a vital one for the future of ITS development, particularly in the area of connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs). Just a few years ago, there was only one solution in terms of communications protocols for delivering vehicle connectivity – logically, it would have to be based on dedicated short-range communication. Now, road operators and vehicle manufacturers have choices. We examine some of these in ‘The numbers game’ (p28). Su
  • Tolling is still stuck on the sidelines says ASECAP speaker
    August 19, 2015
    Geoff Hadwick attended ASECAP’s 2015 Study Days meeting in Lisbon and found a frustrated European tolling sector undertaking some soul searching. The international road tolling industry its failing to make it case and the sector is losing out to a range of other socio-political lobby groups according to International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) chief executive Pat Jones. Speaking at the recent 2015 ASECAP Study Days conference in Lisbon, Jones issued a stark warning: “Tolling is still o