Bird, the electric scooter company, has announced they will return to St. Louis to test the city’s new regulations this weekend. Disruptive behavior by youth last summer prompted the city to ban e-scooters and bikes or the rest of the year.

“Bird has worked closely with St. Louis officials and stakeholders to return operations to the city, said Maggie Hoffman, VP of City Growth & Strategy for Bird, in a press release. “We are excited about the return to downtown and thrilled to serve the city and its residents, providing them with safe, sustainable and affordable transportation options.

In January, the City of St. Louis approved an updated permit for scooter operations. This permit update is to better regulate shared commercial bike and scooter operations.

Bird will begin a soft relaunch of no more than 50 scooters downtown this weekend to test internal compliance and make sure all zones are working properly.

Here are a few things the permit includes:

• Reducing e-scooter speed to 12mph citywide from the current 15mph to improve safety for riders. E-scooter speed will be reduced to 10 mph in some commercial zones and parks. 
• No “group ride” feature by limiting users to one unlocked scooter per account.
• Age restrictions to prevent those 18 and under from unlocking vehicles.
• Enhanced accessibility rules, including additional regulations and clarification on scooter staging and parking.
• Smaller total fleet size from 2,500 to 1,500, with neighborhood-by-neighborhood caps on vehicles.

Anyone who sees any issues or problems should contact Bird at stl@bird.co.