Bird Rides launches e-scooter rentals in Tiffin

Tiffin, Ohio — California-based Bird Rides, Inc. has announced it will begin offering its e-scooters in the City of Tiffin beginning Monday, June 21.

Bird announced in April its intention to add Tiffin to its list of cities. With the help of the newly-established Entrepreneurial Opportunity Clearinghouse through the Tiffin-Seneca Economic Partnership, a local company who will oversee the operation was identified.

The electric scooters can be used on roads and in bike lanes and have a maximum speed of 15mph. Scooters must be parked out of the way of pedestrians and never blocking driveways. Riders are required to be 18 years-old and above to access the scooters. They are also encouraged to wear a helmet on every ride and required to obey all standard rules of the road. For more information, including an opportunity to receive a free helmet (only pay for shipping and handling), visit www.bird.co/safety-mobile.

Users who want to rent the scooters will need to install the Bird app, where all available scooters are displayed. Before starting, the user supplies payment information, scans the QR code on the scooter, and begins the trip. To end the trip, the user must take a photo of the parked scooter. The price of the trip is immediately withdrawn from the user’s credit card.

Bird offers the following programs that are available for all who qualify:

• Community Pricing – Bird’s Community Pricing Program offers a 50% discount to low-income riders, Pell grant recipients, select local nonprofit and community organizations, veterans, and senior citizens. It’s designed to be the most inclusive micromobility discount program available anywhere. To sign up for the Community Pricing Program, download the Bird app, create an account, and email your proof of eligibility to [email protected].
• Free Rides for Healthcare Workers and Emergency Personnel – Bird is proud to offer free rides to healthcare workers and emergency personnel. To sign up, simply email a copy of your medical identification card along with your name and phone number to [email protected] Eligible riders will receive two free 30-minute rides per day for as long as it takes to help our communities to recover from this global health crisis.

Founded in September 2017, Bird operates shared electric scooters in more than 100 cities in North America, Europe and the Middle East with 10 million rides in its first year of operation. The company was founded and is run by Travis VanderZanden, formerly an executive at Lyft and Uber. Notably it became the fastest startup to ever reach $1 billion in valuation.

Tiffin Mayor Aaron Montz was excited about Bird’s announcement. “We’ve been working with Bird for a while, and I’m looking forward to having this fun, environmentally-friendly mobility solution in our community. They will make a great addition to the City of Tiffin.”

If a resident sees an issue with a Bird scooter or would like to contact the company, call 1 (866) 205-2442, email [email protected] or use ‘Community Mode’ feature in the Bird mobile app. More information can be found at www.bird.co and on their blog, www.bird.co/blog.