Bird scooters to return to Redwood City

“It helps when, for that last mile, you can just grab a scooter,” Mayor Jeff Gee said. “It makes it a lot easier than to call an Uber or Lyft or haul your bike on the train. It’s just another tool in the transportation toolkit to get people around.”

Gee said that Redwood City residents have displayed an interest in having the electric scooters available, and the current plan is to focus them in the downtown area near Caltrain. This coincides with other efforts to increase public transportation use in the city, including zoning in downtown that does not require a minimum of parking spots for new housing developments.

Gee said that the Bird scooters were previously a part of a pilot program to gauge if they were a viable option for local transportation. In December 2023, Bird Global experienced some financial hardships and underwent a change in ownership, causing a pause in the pilot program.

Now that they are back under new parent management, Gee said that they will continue to study if they are a sustainable option to maintain in the city.

“We need to learn from it as the city side. Our community needs to learn from it,” Gee said. “Drivers need to learn how to drive alongside them. It’s a learning process.”

A concern raised by Gee was the hazard presented when the scooters are laid down on sidewalks, becoming obstacles to walking pedestrians.

“It’s hard to enforce. We just want people to behave well and respect people that may not want to use the scooters,” Gee said.