As Battle Creek Transit recently celebrated Clean Commute Week, the city welcomes a new way to travel the city – shared electric scooters from Bird, a leader in environmentally-friendly, shared, electric transportation.
At no cost to the city, about 40 scooters arrived in Battle Creek at the end of May, ready to transport individuals around the city. The accompanying map shows Bird’s operation area in Battle Creek, generally north of Columbia Avenue. Download the Bird smart phone app to create an account and ride the scooters, paying per minute for your ride.
About 25 scooters are available now around the city; only part of the fleet will be out at one time, so others can be charged and maintained.
The City Commission in May approved an ordinance to regulate electric scooters, and companies that provide them, after Bird requested that we allow their shared scooter program. Bird’s goals include helping reduce carbon emissions, as well as traffic congestion, and providing a safe alternative to car transportation.
“We welcome the opportunity to add Bird’s scooters to the city,” said Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing. “Transportation options are a continued need in our community, and we hope to see this one bring benefit to the city and its neighbors.”
Those wishing to ride a scooter can, using the app, find a scooter close to their location, ride it, and leave it in another location for the next person to use.
Riders can use electric scooters on city streets; in bike lanes; and on bike paths, including the Linear Park path; and on the sidewalk, only downtown. The top speed of a Bird scooter is 15 mph. Maximum speeds allowed in Battle Creek are 10 mph downtown, and 15 mph on the Linear Park path. By ordinance, electric scooters generally can travel 20 mph on city streets.
In addition:
- Riders must park scooters out of the way of pedestrians, vehicle traffic, and driveways.
- Riders must be at least 18 years old.
- Riders must follow all standard road rules.
- We encourage riders to wear helmets.
Bird operates this program, so anyone with questions or concerns about the scooters can contact them at 866-205-2442 or hello@bird.co. More company information is at www.bird.co and www.bird.co/blog.