Bird: A new way of transport
Modern cities reinvent methods of transport as they want to lower carbon emission in heavily polluted areas and shape the new social distance society
Bird is an application and a website and provides users with so-called e-scooters (as shown in the picture) that can be used after registration through the application. Bird was founded in the United States and has also expanded to dense urban areas in Europe (e.g. Paris). Users can navigate the map in the application to find the closest Bird, or e-scooter. Users can reserve a Bird up to 30 minutes in advance. To start the ride, the Bird’s QR code needs to be scanned with the application. The Birds accelerate with a throttle and are equipped with brakes to slow down.
Bird uses geo open data to connect people with available e-scooters through the application. Geo open data offers maps of the surrounding and widely used transportation routes in the cities in Europe (e.g Paris) and the United States (e.g. LA, San Francisco). In this manner, Bird can make sure their e-scooters are available in all highly used transportation routes.
The European Commission (EC) encourages the use of eco-friendly transportation as part of the circular economy ambitions for Europe. The e-vehicles could provide an eco-friendly way of transport for the city of the future post lockdown. Cities in Europe and across the globe look for alternative methods of transportation that are appropriate in a social distancing society. The e-vehicles provided by Bird and other companies (such as Lime and Dott) will possibly be used in the COVID-19 lockdown exit strategies of many cities across Europe. The e-scooters are made to last up to 18+ months and are made durable to reduce waste. The use of e-scooters potentially reduces traffic congestion and pollution in comparison to the use of cars while maintaining the security standards of the post-lockdown society.
Bird is one of the over 600 use cases published on the European Data Portal. If you are aware of another inspiring use case, share your experience and knowledge on different applications and websites using open data with the EDP via mail, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.