Bird scooters are lined up along the side of a road. The micro-mobility devises became available in Logan on July 14 (Image courtesy of Facebook).
LOGAN – Micro-mobility is now available – for rent – on the streets of Logan.
Under a pilot-program agreement between city officials and the Bird Global organization, dockless short-term e-scooter rentals are now available for Logan citizens, according to city planner Russ Holley.
Local residents – especially young adults – seem to be eager to take advantage of the Bird scooters. That agreement took affect on Friday, July 14 and Bird’s local manager reported that the city’s small feet of scooters logged 150 rides that first day and 120 rides the day after.
Although Bird supplies both e-scooters and e-bikes, only scooters are being offered in Logan.
The scooters can be found in what Bird officials refer to as “nests,” those are convenient locations through the city. Many of those locations can be found along Main Street, particularly in the downtown area.
First-time customers can unlock any available scooter by downloading the Bird application on any mobile device (a QR code on each scooter’s handlebars can be used to access that application).
When riding the scooters, customers are charged what Bird officials refer to as a “nominal base-rate,” plus by-the-minute charges for the period during which they use the micro-mobility device.
For safety’s sake, city officials are urging scooter riders to always wear a helmet and practice other safe riding skills.
While Bird officials acknowledge that their service does not provide helmets, they urge riders to bring their own headgear.
Holley said that an electric charge on a scooter normally lasts for about a day. The Bird corporation has a local fleet manager who collects the scooters at night and recharges them. All the scooters are equipped with Bird’s own hardware so they can be located anywhere in the city.
What happens in the winter?
“The ‘Birds’ fly south,” Holley laughs, to other cities where snow, ice and winter conditions aren’t a hazard to travel by scooters.
Bird is one of several companies – including Lime, Spin and Superpedestrian – now supplying micro-mobility options to cities across the nation and throughout the world. Bird alone as entered into agreements with more than 400 cities, a half-dozen of which are in Utah.
Logan city officials cleared the way for the advent of micro-mobility options with local ordinance changes in spring of 2022.
Last April, Holley advised members of the Logan Municipal Council that the city’s bicycle code was outdated and needed to be revised in other to make way for a variety of alternative modes of transportation.
Those included scooters, electric bikes, electric scooters, electric skateboards, shared bikes, skateboards, rollerblades and other personal transportation devices.
At Holley’s suggestion, the council members adopted changes to Chapters 10.68 and 10.70 of the city code that would eliminate Police Department inspections and a $1.00 licensing fee, replacing that with a new registration process that is free, easy and may assist in the recovery of stolen property.
Also adopted were changes to the municipal code would allow micro-mobility devises, while reserving the right to create mandatory dismount zones and to limit certain areas through traffic signage.
City officials are now reminding the riders of the Bird e-scooters to use caution and courtesy as they move about the city.
Their primary warning is that e-scooters are not to be used on sidewalks, advising riders to use bike lanes when available or travel along the side of the road.
When parking an e-scooter, riders are also advised to avoid sidewalks, doorways, driveways and other passageways.
The Bird scooter application can be found at https://go.bird.co.