Bird Scooters are heading back to Columbia as soon as April 1st
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMZ)
The Columbia Public Works Department says Bird Scooter could come back to Columbia as soon as the first day of April.
The Downtown Columbia Leadership Council was updated Wednesday on the newly approved contract to bring the dockless scooters back to the streets of the city.
The Director of the Public Works department David Nichols said the city received Bird's signatures Wednesday to bring 500 dockless scooters back to Columbia.
The Downtown Community Improvement District has requested there be certain areas the scooters must be placed to reduce those concerns.
Nichols said that issue has not explicitly been addressed in the contract yet.
"I don't know what would be a logical spot, the sidewalks are narrow, we don't really have a lot of big public open spaces," Nichols said. "We're really going to have to figure that out and what makes sense."
The executive director of the District Nickie Davis said Wednesday she hasn't been updated on any plans, but there will be another meeting in the future to come up with ideas.
"The way they came up the first time does not give us a lot of high hope, but I do think they are trying to change their ways," Davis said. "I know that the city is very concerned about keeping our businesses and customers safe so I think that will help these discussions move along.
Another concern the District and business owners had was speed. Nichols said the company is working on "geo-fencing" certain areas to reduce the speed the scooter can go. This method will also be used to keep the scooters off of trails, and even sidewalks downtown.
"They are willing to work with us and sit down to find those spots once we have our kick-off," Nichols said.
According to city documents, Bird will pay an initial fee of $10,000 each to the City of Columbia and the University of Missouri and $2.00 per scooter in operation each day. That total will be split between the University and the city.
Columbia will put the funds in an account to be used for sidewalk improvements and public transportation.
A spokesman for the University of Missouri Christian Basi said its portion of the fund will be used for mobility projects, bike lane markings, and construction of areas for users to place the scooters.
Basi said the scooters were popular among students. The university will be working ongoing messaging to make sure that people are riding them responsibility and leaving them in safe areas."
"As individuals use these, that they realize and are aware of how they are impacting those around them when they are using them.
ABC17 News has reached out to Bird Inc. for more details about the agreement, but the request was not immediately returned.
