Electric scooters coming to St. Joe

 

ST. JOSEPH, Mi. -- If you've been to a major city, you may have seen people riding around on electric scooters-- similar to the scooters offered by Bird Rides, Inc.

Now, Bird scooters will be coming to St. Joe. 

“This all began when they received approval to bring them to Benton Harbor, so they thought, this would be a great idea to have them in both Benton Harbor and St. Joe at the same time," said Stephanie Scott-Sims, Communications and Economic Development Director for the city. 

Benton Harbor approved of the scooters last November, and St. Joe's city commission approved them last Monday. 

Scott-Sims said that the scooters will be ideal for residents and tourists to get around town. 

“We all know that transportation, public transportation is limited in the area, and so anyone who needs public transportation to get through to short distances in the city can use these," Scott-Sims said. 

To use the scooters, a rider needs to download the Bird app, scan the QR code on the scooter, and select payment. Riders must be at least eighteen years old, and helmets are recommended. 

When a rider is done, all they need to do is leave it by a nearby bike rack-- or just out of the way of pedestrians and vehicles-- and hit 'end ride' in the app.

“Then there will be a local person who works for Bird who will then come and collect them at the end of each day, so then they’re not just sitting in front of people’s homes or businesses," said Scott-Sims.

Bird paid a $1000 license fee to the city to bring in around twenty to thirty scooters-- though they could bring in more if there's enough demand. 

Scott-Sims said they're currently contracted to be in place until December.

“It’s basically going to be a trial run to see how it goes, and then we’ll determine from there to see if we’ll proceed with Bird in the future," she added. 

However, it is unclear when exactly the scooters will be coming to the area. ABC57 has not been able to get that information from Bird Rides, Inc, but Scott-Sims believes they will be coming right on time for Summer.