Bird fixing misleading rules seen on Calgary e-scooters
Posted Jul 23, 2021 7:04 pm.
Last Updated Jul 23, 2021 7:24 pm.
CALGARY — There have been several instances of mixed messaging from Bird e-scooters, as some of their rides have the wrong rules printed on them.
Bird says they’ll fix the rules after several dozen e-scooters showed up in Calgary that tell you not to ride on sidewalks, despite that being one of the few places you can use them in the city.
The e-scooters with wrong rules started popping up during Stampede when there was an increased demand for the service.
Bylaw on riding e-scooters below. Note, while CPS Chief & Chief Bylaw Officer say they don't expect to hand out tickets for private e-scooters, technically you're only allowed to ride those on private property & pathways, no bike lanes, roads, or sidewalks for private scooters. pic.twitter.com/TdUTa4TIdK
— Saif Kaisar (@StaySaif) July 23, 2021
Calgary’s updated bylaws allow shared e-scooters on bike lanes, pathways, temporary adaptive lanes, sidewalks, and quiet roads with low traffic volume.
You cannot ride them on busy roadways.
Bird Canada responded to a tweet 660 NEWS sent out, asking why there are several e-scooters that have the wrong rules posted.
Initially, Bird responded by saying the proper stickers were peeled off and they would reapply the correct stickers as soon as possible.
Hi there! The proper sticker was peeled off showing the default “don’t ride on sidewalks”. Our team will reapply the sticker with proper rules. Thanks for flagging!
— Bird Canada (@BirdRideCanada) July 23, 2021
After further questions, the CEO for Bird Canada, Stewart Lyons, stated that they are aware of the misleading messaging and are working to replace the stickers.
He explained that they had to bring in more e-scooters during Stampede because of heavy demand and missed the misleading message.
Hello – yes are aware of the misleading messaging and are working to fix it. Due to the heavy demand of stampede, we had to rotate in scooters from another jurisdiction and unfortunately we missed the confusing messaging.
— Stewart Lyons (@stewartlyons) July 24, 2021
Note that despite shared e-scooters being allowed on bike lanes, sidewalks, and pathways, you cannot ride a personal e-scooter in those same areas.
You can only use privately owned e-scooters on private property and on pathways.
