Bird and Lime have until Friday to shoo their e-scooters off the streets of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
The two cities allowed the micro-transit purveyors to deploy dozens of dockless electric scooters on street corners this year on a trial basis. The experiment, which began this summer, ends Friday.
Will the e-scooters roll back in after winter’s thaw?
St. Paul Public Works Director Kathy Lantry said via email that her department has assembled a working group to help “guide … any changes we should consider making now that we have a season of use under our belts. We are working on ordinance language for policy makers to consider.”
Overall, however, “yes, the pilot seems to have gone well,” she added. “We have few complaints and we believe that with more experience both for the companies and riders that it will continue to improve the experience for riders and nonriders.”
In St. Paul, each e-scooter company was allowed to deploy up to 150 scooters per day following Bird’s unexpected arrival last July. The California-based companies — which have a history of rolling into cities unannounced — have been upgrading their technology with longer battery life, lighting and other improvements.
In addition to e-scooters, Lime deployed lime-green dockless bikes throughout the city under a negotiated contract with St. Paul. The bike-sharing service also will go on winter hiatus.
