Bird scooters confiscated by city of Palm Springs
Over the weekend, the city of Palm Springs confiscated more than 100 Bird e-scooters from the streets of downtown.
It comes after Bird covered the city with a fleet of their scooters without warning. City council took swift action, issuing a cease and desist order the same day, which Bird didn’t comply with.
“They certainly didn’t advise us so it was a complete surprise,” said city manager David Ready. “When I talked to them the following day, they weren’t interested in ceasing and desisting.”
As Bird riders continued using the service into the weekend, the city has stepped in, confiscating about 110 scooters and is holding them in a secure location — in part because of the Festival of Lights parade being held downtown Saturday.
“Having 100,000 people downtown on the sidewalks with the scooters was not going to be a good mix,” Ready said. “There are still some that are in the outlying areas and as we see them we’ll be picking them up as well.”
According to Palm Springs municipal code, it’s already illegal to ride scooters on city streets and sidewalks.
And even though the scooters were confiscated by the city, Bird said today they voluntarily paused their service.
The city is divided over the issue.
“I just don’t like them,” said Tim Spray. “They don’t have a designated place to put them away when you’re done with them. It just seems like trash lying around.”
“I love the birds,” Sepideh Mianaby said. “It’s so convenient – we love them. so bring them back.”
“Should you get clipped or just even a simple fall – could mean a life-ending situation, you never know,” James Edmonds said.
The city said Bird will be charged for the removal and storage of the scooters. City council plans to get input from residents and downtown merchants before trying to work out new regulations.
KESQ has also learned that the city is in talks with Bird competitor, Lime, another e-scooter company, with meetings set for the coming weeks.
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