Bird launches e-scooters in Calgary
Toronto to be rolling as soon as possible
Bird Canada officially launched its dockless e-scooters Monday in Calgary, a move that follows the city’s electric scooter pilot program in partnership with Bird and rival e-scooter company Lime.
Initially, a few hundred Bird scooters will be available in Calgary, with that number expected to grow to 500 in the coming weeks. Bird Canada, which is backed by financing from Toronto Raptors founder John Bitove, said in June that it was aiming to launch in Toronto as soon as possible.
Under current regulations in Ontario, e-scooters can’t be used on the road and in Toronto they aren’t currently permitted on sidewalks.
The only place where riders can use them in Toronto is on private property, if property owners give the go-ahead.
Those looking to rent an escooter in Calgary need to use the Bird Scooter app to locate and unlock the nearest available e-scooter. Bird scooters have a $1.15 unlocking fee and charge $0.35 per minute of use.
However, until Aug.12, Bird will waive the unlocking fee in Calgary as a special Canadian launch promotion. Bird says you must be 18 years old or older to rent a scooter.
The scooters are limited to speeds of 20 km/h.
Each scooter has a bell, handheld brake and a light, but they can’t be used after sundown.
Bird says its scooters typically last a couple of days or for about 50 km of travel before needing recharging.
Calgary is the first Canadian city to create regulatory conditions for e-scooter companies like Bird to launch.
Bird isn’t the only e-scooter company setting up operations in Canada; its smaller competitor Lime is running a trial in Waterloo Region, and it is also hoping to set up shop in Toronto.
This story was originally published on mobilesyrup.com