Bird scooters will be back

Bird, an electric-vehicle-sharing company, started deploying its dockless scooters throughout Bloomington last fall. Much like other birds that leave for the winter, the Bird scooters are migrating back to the city this spring.

Bird has an app that riders can use to rent a scooter. When the rider is finished, they shut down the scooter and close the ride in the app. The cost is determined by the amount of time the rider used the scooter. 

Dockless scooters are new to Bloomington. They were made possible by a City Council-approved change to the City code to expand the area where such vehicles are allowed to operate. Bird is allowed to operate up to 250 scooters in the city until November 15, weather permitting. 

Some areas are defined as prohibited zones, including Mall of America property, Bloomington parks, Three Rivers Park District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife lands. City staff will reach out to these entities to see if they would like to allow scooters in the future. People can report abandoned scooters to bloomington311@bird.co.