Bird, the scooter and bike-sharing company, will start a pilot focused on offering barrier-free mobility vehicles for people with disabilities for rent in New York City this summer.
In the latest news story, Bird and Scootaround have become a partner. Scootaround is a leading wheelchair and scooter rental company. This partnership is known as the first accessible mobility program of its kind. This project allows people to find and reserve one of three different models that companies are making available, including the WHILL Ci2 electric wheelchair and three- and four-wheel scooters with the Bird app.
Are you in one of the cities where Bird currently has shared scooters? Then renting such an accessible scooter is very easy. You can use the Bird app to choose vehicle type, the rental period between 1 and 14 days. You can also see where a scooter can be found in your area. You do this by viewing your location on the map and analyzing the GPS of the shared scooters in your area. You can reserve such a shared scooter, but up to a maximum of 30 minutes in advance. After that, your reservation will expire again. To start driving, you can scan the QR code on the scooter. Then you can immediately set off with your scooter. Are you done driving? Then you can place the scooter anywhere, as long as they do not stand in the way of other road users or pedestrians.
We do not know the cost of the service. However, an electric scooter rental was held by Scootaround for a week at $125 and $195 in some United States Cities.
According to Bird, it would implement the accessible mobility service in other cities in 2021. It will depend on the results of the pilot program in New York City.