ST. LOUIS — After a successful soft relaunch of e-scooters in Downtown St. Louis and Downtown West last week, the electric scooter company Bird plans to release dozens more in the upcoming weekend.
A total of 50 e-scooters were released last week to test internal compliance and make sure all zones worked properly. On Wednesday, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Pierre Benoist said no incidents were reported.
This weekend, there will be a total of 150 e-scooters available for use.
“We’ve had several meetings leading up to the release, so we’re certainly hopeful that the meetings and open discussion will be helpful in moving the scooters forward in the Downtown and Downtown West area,” he said.
Lime has not set a release date on their e-scooters, according to Benoist.
Disruptive behavior by youth last summer prompted the city to ban e-scooters and bikes.
In January, city officials approved an updated permit for scooter operations. This permit update is to better regulate shared commercial bike and scooter operations.
Here are a few things the permit includes:
Reducing e-scooter speed to 12 mph citywide from the current 15 mph 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.
