Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano announced the city has partnered with Bird to launch New York State’s first-ever electric scooter pilot program. Beginning in early August, as part of a one-year pilot program, Bird will deploy up to 200 scooters in southwest Yonkers, including the Downtown-Waterfront area, with the potential of expanding up to 500 scooters to meet demand.
“Yonkers is pleased to once again lead the way as a progressive city in of- fering smart, emission-free transportation solutions for our community,” said Yonkers Mayor Spano. “Partnering with Bird will provide residents and visitors the opportunity to travel our city with ease and convenience all while being affordable, reliable and fun.
“Yonkers’ dedication to micromobility is unparalleled, and Bird is honored to serve in the first e-scooter pilot program both here and in New York State,” said Rebecca Hahn, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, Bird. “Like so many New Yorkers, Yonkers residents are adopting more socially-distant transportation habits in the wake of COVID-19. We’re looking forward to providing a safe and sustainable way for them to stay mobile and support local businesses as the city continues to recover and rebuild.”
Through the Bird smartphone app, riders can see the closest Bird scooter on a map, unlock it, complete the safety tutorial and ride directly to their desired destination. Upon ending their trip, riders simply park the scooter safely along the side of a sidewalk or on-street next to an unmarked curb and take a photo of the scooter through the app to ensure proper parking.
The cost for a Bird ride is $1 to start and a per minute fee to ride. Bird also offers low-income access plans that include unlimited 30-minute rides for $5 per month for anyone enrolled in or eligible for a state or federal assistance program. In compliance with the recently enacted New York State law, e-scooters must be used on streets with a posted speed limit of no more than 30 mph. Riders may also use scooters in bike lanes, but must offer the right of way to bicycles. Riders must be 18 years of age to use a Bird scooter in Yonkers.
Yonkers’s partnership with Bird marks the second of its kind with a dock- less transportation sharing company. The city was the first in the New York
City area to embrace dockless bike sharing in 2018, and now will become the first in the state to welcome shared electric scooters nearly three years after the first Birds were launched in Santa Monica in September 2017.
The announcement comes less than a month after the United Kingdom of- ficially approved Bird One electric scooters for use in city trials. Lime Bike recently removed its bikes from White Plains and Yonkers after shifting its focus from traditional bikes to electric scooters.
