Brood of Bird electric scooters land in Kansas City
July 12, 2018 | Bobby Burch
Birds of a feather scoot together.
Joining more than 20 cities across the U.S., Kansas City became the most recent community to welcome a flock of Bird electric scooters.
The Los Angeles-based firm dropped off dozens of black, lithium-ion-powered scooters throughout Kansas City, allowing 
users to rent the vehicles and zip across town with a $1 start fee and 15 cents per minute after that. More than 60 of the scooters were dropped off by the company — which is valued at more that $1 billion — in such areas as the River Market, Central Business District, Crossroads Arts District, 18th and Vine and the Country Club Plaza.
The scooters are pleasant to drive and easy to access, though Thou Mayest founder Bo Nelson can see them eventually becoming an issue, he said. Nelson enjoyed his first ride on a Bird Wednesday.
“It’s the best and probably most dynamic way to explore the city,” said Nelson, whose popular Crossroads coffee shop is in the heart of the Bird service area in Kansas City. “It’s affordable, allows for maximum independence and you just leave it when you’re done. I can see problems coming, but let’s enjoy it while we can.”
To access Bird’s scooters, users must download the company’s app, scan a scooter’s unique QR code and give the vehicle a few pushes to get it moving. Once scooting along, users can reach maximum speeds of 15 mph to travel short distances. The company encourages users to bring their own helmets for safety.
Bird uses GPS to track the scooters and will pay fans $5 to $20 to pick up and charge the vehicles at their homes.
Hoping to expand to 50 metros across the U.S., Bird has already irked some communities, spurring complaints that scooter users leave the vehicles in disruptive locations and cause collisions or injuries. Denver and San Francisco have already banned the scooters. Bird wants to work with local governments to craft reasonable regulations, the company said.
Bird and the City of Kansas City, Mo. are currently in conversations on how to best regulate the company.
The ruffled feathers, however, haven’t hurt Bird’s early successes. The company recently raised $150 million in a round led by Sequoia Capital, which reportedly valued the firm at $1 billion.
Check out Thou Mayest founder Bo Nelson’s thoughts after his first ride on one the company’s scooters.
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Why this KC social entrepreneur pivoted from drilling wells with Matt Damon to tapping micro-loans for water projects
Identifying unmet needs is just as critical for social entrepreneurs as their counterparts at more traditional for-profit ventures, said Gary White, explaining how Water.org needed to find its missing piece to truly tap the non-profit’s potential. “Go after those unique insights at the intersection of a great social gain and a market,” said White, offering…
Newly relaunched PR platform connects small brands to freelance journalists eager to tell their stories
Blish Mize Connor and Allison Hogan are working to change the landscape of the public relations game, they shared, starting with firing themselves. The PR veterans — with a combined 35 years of experience — have launched DeskSides, a dual-sided digital hub to connect brands with journalists/freelancers. “We were tired of traveling and schlepping goods…
US company lands on the moon: Here’s how a KC firm helped boost its flames of innovation
For the first time ever, a commercial spacecraft has touched down on the moon and Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell provided innovation that helped to make it possible for Intuitive Machines and its Odysseus IM-1 lander, shared Brittney Swartz. The local engineering, construction and architecture firm served as the designer and builder of Intuitive Machines’…
Why developers say folding Plexpod Westport site into Park 39 unifies $230M project
A move this week to transition management of the Plexpod Westport space to the developers behind a massive project along 39th Street will mean reuniting elements within the broader Park 39 campus, said Andrew Brain. “By unifying our actions on both sides of the street, we’re able to act as a whole instead of as…