The city of Columbia says the new Bird scooter rules will help fix some of the problems

Bird scooters has a new set of rules that they will be implementing, a consultant said at a Columbia Disability Commission meeting on Thursday afternoon.

According to Columbia Councilman Mike Trapp, he said he believes the new updates will help address some of the problems.

“My biggest issues with the Bird scooters have been them blocking the sidewalk,” Trapp said.

One new rule is that scooter users must take a screenshot of their parked scooter before deactivating.

Trapp said he’s already seen better parking because of it.

He said he thinks “Bird Watchers” would be a great way to decrease some of the scooter misuse as well. Which means officials from the company would monitor scooter use.

“It would be nice to have a direct number, then people can call about scooters that are in an improper place, have a resource to remove those immediately,” Trapp said.

Bird Rides Inc. said they also plan to give the city a dollar a day per scooter.

Trapp said “I will believe it when I see it.”

He said he is interested to see how that will work in the winter months when scooter use is down.

Trapp pointed out that Bird Rides Inc. is not the only scooter company out there and Lime is getting ready to launch their scooters.

“We try to be even-handed as we deal with all potential buyers,” Trapp said.

He also said he believes the city is already in negotiations with Lime.

Trapp said he is not worried that scooters could end up all over the city because he ultimately says the competition will help drive down the price.

“It will be interesting to see if another scooter company will be able to disrupt Bird’s market,” Trapp said.

Trapp also said that he believes Lime will launch their scooters Oct. 18.