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Shared-ride e-scooters are parked on the sidewalks of major cities all over the world. And 158 US cities You already have ride-sharing e-scooter systems.
But some cities, like New Orleans and Las Vegas, have strict bans on e-scooter sharing. Paris has just voted to ban e-scooters. Others, like San Francisco, have made it difficult for e-scooter ride-hailing companies to operate, which has led to this birdone of the largest companies in this field, to leave the city. In a two-month period last summer, there were more than 12,000 citations for improperly parked scooters — resulting in Byrd paying $385,000 in fines.
“We operate in about 400 cities and they have the highest fine rate of any city in the world we operate in. They were in the top 1% of cities for vehicle theft,” said Bird CEO Shane Turciana.
Other cities such as Washington, D.C. see the e-scooter ride-sharing option as a valuable addition to their transportation infrastructure. The district even recently increased the number of scooters allowed in the city by the end of the year—even 20,000.
“It’s a program that offered a lot of variety and additional mobility options around the region,” said Everett Lott, director of the District Department of Transportation. “It was designed with a commitment to fairness and sustainability and also making sure we had safety in mind.”
Companies like Bird, Lime, and Spin have struggled to achieve profitability, though Lime announced that it managed to achieve profitability on an unadjusted EBITDA basis in 2022. controversy and injuries.
Bird went public via a SPAC in November of 2021 and its stock has since fallen about 98%. Despite this, Torchiana is hopeful for the future, saying the company is working for profitability.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of progress this year. We’ve only been guided by free cash flow being positive for 2023,” he said.
Watch the video to learn more.
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