More than 200 Bird scooters impounded by MU since 2018

The University of Missouri has impounded more than 200 Bird electric scooters since June 2018, according to records obtained by ABC 17 News.

ABC 17 News first reported Tuesday about new rules the university enacted with Bird dictating scooter use and storage on campus. School officials had safety concerns over scooter use since their arrival in the summer of 2018, a major motivator for the deal.

The company will have two hours to move a scooter that’s blocking a sidewalk, road or building entrance or exit if someone complains. If the scooter is not moved in that time, the university can impound the scooter for three days. Bird must pay $100 to get the scooter back, and an additional $50 a day after that. The agreement also gives the school permission to destroy the scooter after three days, and make Bird pay for it.

The university’s agreement charges $1 more per day per scooter than the city of Columbia charges. MU will collect $2 a day for every scooter Bird has on campus. The company is required to start with 300 scooters, and must notify MU if it plans on reducing the fleet below 150 or increasing it above 500. The school has the ability to reject Bird’s request to put more than 500 scooters on campus.

School spokesman Christian Basi said Bird paid $1,400 to remove the scooters it currently had impounded. Basi said only 14 of the hundreds held had been impounded since the agreement went into effect on May 1.

Both MU and Bird have planned a safety seminar on campus. The deal requires Bird to offer students helmets at either a low cost or free.