City of Coachella Partners with the “Bird”

Bird E-Scooter Company (“Bird”) has dropped near 100 new electric bird scooters for residents to use, to “fly” (scooter) around the city of Coachella.

Coachella is the first city in the CoachellaValley.com to allow their use.

Leaders said they’re hoping to pave the way for more cities to follow. “It’s always exciting to be the first and I think that we will be the roadmap for other cities to follow,” said Josie Gonzalez, mayor pro-tem in Coachella.

“It is a huge win because it provides an additional mode of transportation,” said Gonzalez. “It also provides an opportunity for family members to get out and explore the beautiful city.”

“For us this is about mobility. We want to make sure that our community is going out and enjoying the city,” said Mayor of Coachella, Steven Hernandez. He continued sharing, the scooters are all about redefining and innovating the city of Coachella.

You can already see users cruising the streets, taking in sights and using them for basic transportation.

“It’s going to be fun to get around places, easier too,” said Juana Gonzalez, a resident who was enjoying the bird scooters in downtown Coachella.

“It is a huge win because it provides an additional mode of transportation,” said Josie Gonzalez, mayor pro-tem in Coachella. “It also provides an opportunity for family members to get out and explore the beautiful city.”

To use just download the “Bird” app, locate a scooter location, add your credit card, and start scootering. “Bird” charges one $1 to unlock the scooter. Then 39-cents per minute to ride.

In major decent of this and other actions in cities where “Bird” deploys their scooters, Disability advocates have entered into class action lawsuits, saying cities and scooter companies have failed to maintain the accessibility of public sidewalks. They highlight how hazardly discarded scooters can block sidewalks and wheelchair ramps and create potential safety issues.

“I cannot stand these scooters, they are an absolute menace,” said a Coachella resident opposed to the scooters.

According to “Bird,” mechanisms are in place within the app to make sure the scooters are dropped off in a safe and out of the way location.

Currently this is done in Coachella by charging ongoing fees until they are placed in specific areas defined within the “Bird’ app.

The city is also working to develop a geo-fence that will automatically bring the scooters to a stop if the rider enters an area where the scooters aren’t allowed.