By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
A flock of electronic birds hit the streets of Great Bend in late March 2021. Less than two years later, the electronic scooters are no longer a form of transportation.
RELATED STORY: A flock of electronic Birds are on the streets in Great Bend
At Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting, Community
Coordinator Christina Hayes said the local investor decided they were not
interested in managing the 100 scooters in Great Bend anymore. Bird Rides has
also told the city of their lack of interest in bringing the scooters back.
"You can see Birds were used all over our community, which is great because it is another form of transportation," said Hayes. "We need to look for another local investor. Even if we do find one that will partner with Bird and follow their rules, it's not guaranteed that Bird will come back."
In 2021, there were 10,469 rides from the scooters in Great Bend. In 2022, that
number fell to 4,193, a near 60% drop. Total miles traveled on the scooters
went from 21,743 in 2021 to 8,506 in 2022.
Although they were of no cost to the city, Hayes said the city would like to
keep the form of transportation and entertainment if another investor could be
found, but she was not hopeful they would return in 2023.
"When we signed up as a city entity, we knew that we didn't want to be in charge of all the scooters...it would take too much time and effort," said Hayes. "We needed to look at someone to maintain them."
The scooters could reach a maximum speed of 15 miles per hour and allowed
anyone to pinpoint the location of the ride by opening the mobile app.
If interested in becoming an investor and maintaining the scooters in Great Bend, contact Hayes at 620-793-4111.