Electronic scooter company Bird is launching a monthly subscription program in San Francisco that allows customers to lease a scooter for a month at a $24.99 charge.
"I think that could be a good option," said San Francisco resident Kiefer Hackney. "It definitely brings a lot more responsibility for the user in that if they ride somewhere, they have to ride the bike to where they came from."
Bird isn’t part of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) 12-month Powered Scooter Share Permit and Pilot Program. The SFMTA only gave permits to companies Scoot and Skip.
Those companies were selected after months of proposals sent to the SFMTA by a dozen scooter companies, so this move by Bird most likely comes as a surprise to city officials.
“We learned about this new program (Tuesday) and are going to get more details to determine whether or not this program complies with existing regulations,” the SFMTA said in a statement.
The monthly subscription will also be available in Barcelona.
