Palm Springs City Attorney: Bird must cease operations in city
UPDATE: 11/29/18 6:15 PM
Palm Springs City Attorney Edward Kotkin announced this evening during the city council meeting that the council voted unanimously that Bird must cease operations in the city until the public has a chance to weigh in on the issue.
A representative of Bird sent a statement responding to Palm Springs city officials saying the company did not have permission to operate in the city.
“Bird has submitted the necessary paperwork to operate as a business in Palm Springs. We have contacted the city and look forward to working closely with city officials so that Bird is a reliable, affordable, and environmentally friendly transportation option.” – a Bird spokesperson
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UPDATE: 11/29/18 2:15 PM: According to Communications Director for the City of Palm Springs, Amy Blaisdell, Bird does not have a business license and did not seek permission to operate in the city.
“The Bird fleet does not have a business license and did not seek permission from the City to bring their fleet here,” Blaisdell wrote in an email to KESQ & CBS Local 2. “I am told by the City Manager that enforcement will be discussed tonight in Closed Session.”
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They dot the sidewalks, parks, and shoulders of Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica and beyond. And now, they will become part of the Palm Springs transit landscape: Bird Scooters are coming to Palm Springs.
“Today, Bird brings its fleet of electric scooters to Palm Springs, California to help meet the town’s need for transit options that are accessible, affordable, and reliable,”Rachel Bankston, Corporate Communications Associate at Bird said in an email to KESQ & CBS Local 2. “Bird scooters offer a new, environmentally-friendly transportation option to help get residents in Palm Springs where they need to go while getting cars off the road, reducing traffic, and cutting carbon emissions.”
The scooter rental startup is valued at $2 billion, according to CNN Money, and has spread its product to over 100 cities worldwide.
The company recently celebrated 10 million rides on their scooters, which function in a similar way to rideshare bicycles in their availability and accessibility. The prospective rider needs to download the bird app, locate one of the scooters using the map function, then use the app to unlock the scooter. Once the rider finishes their trip, they are instructed to simply place the scooter out of “public pathways”, preferably near a bike rack, then end the trip on the app.
The company advises that all riders stay safe while riding, and has distributed 50,000 helmets since the startup’s inception.
Bird’s growth has been hearty, but it has also caught its fair share of flak, with cities like San Francisco banning the scooters based on safety concerns.
For the full terms of operation for Bird Scooters, click here.
Below is an excerpt city of Palm Springs Municipal code as it relates to the use of scooters:
12.90.020 Use of skateboards, scooters, roller skates, and similar devices restricted. (a) It is unlawful for any person riding on a skateboard, scooter, roller skate, coaster, toy vehicle, or similar device to go upon an open roadway in the city of Palm Springs, or upon the sidewalk or public plaza in any business district as defined by Section 235 of the California Vehicle Code, or upon any inclined surface area of any parkade where signs forbidding such activity are displayed at the ground level elevator entrance and at each vehicular entrance to the parkade.
(b) It is unlawful for any person riding on a skateboard, scooter, roller skate, coaster, toy vehicle, or similar device to go upon any portion of public or private rights-of-way in the downtown section of the city of Palm Springs in the area between the most northerly sidewalk of Vista Chino Road to the most southerly sidewalk of Ramon Road, and the most easterly sidewalk of Indian Canyon Drive to the most westerly sidewalk of Belardo Road.
(c) It is unlawful for any person riding on a skateboard, scooter, roller skate, coaster, toy vehicle, or similar device on a sidewalk, or public or private right-of-way not open to public vehicular traffic to fail to yield the right of way to pedestrians.
(d) It is unlawful for any person riding on a skateboard, scooter, roller skate, coaster, toy vehicle, or similar device on any sidewalk, public, or private right-of-way not open to public vehicular traffic to travel at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property. (Ord. 1644 § 5, 2004)
Additionally, the code lays out what is required of a scooter-renting business, signage-wise, in the city.
12.90.050 Posting required–Skateboard, roller skate, scooter and electric personal assistive mobility device businesses. (a) Any person who engages in the business of renting bicycles or unicycles within the city of Palm Springs shall keep a copy of Section 12.90.010 posted in a conspicuous place upon the premises where such business is conducted.
(b) Any person who engages in the business of renting skateboards, roller skates, scooters, coasters, toy vehicles, or similar devices within the city of Palm Springs shall keep a copy of Section 12.90.020 posted in a conspicuous place upon the premises where such business is conducted.
(c) Any person who engages in the business of renting electric personal assistive mobility devices within the city of Palm Springs shall keep a copy of Section 12.90.030 posted in a conspicuous place upon the premises where such business is conducted. (Ord. 1644 § 5, 2004)
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