Bird, Lime Shut Down Scooters After Committee Endorses Others

SANTA MONICA, CA – Bird and Lime electric scooters are so upset with Santa Monica, they shut down their services in protest Tuesday. Although the two scooter companies dominate West Los Angeles, both companies were passed over by a Santa Monica committee that chose to endorse Uber and Lyft-owned scooter companies to launch their own operations when the pilot program starts in September, the City planning director revealed Friday.

The shutdown has been named "A Day Without a Scooter," and is only temporary – the joint campaign from Bird and Lime is meant to encourage riders to rally at City Hall this evening.

“The Lyft and Uber applications to operate e-scooter sharing programs in Santa Monica demonstrate the desperate lengths CO2 polluting companies will go to for the purpose of undermining clean energy competition," a statement from Bird read. "We at Bird are dedicated to replacing car trips with clean energy trips and will continue to fight against car dependency alongside our loyal riders.”

“Over the last four months, Lime has pioneered a shared scooter network in Santa Monica as a model for the nation. Since day one, we have worked collaboratively with the City to design a program tailored to fit the community's needs," Toby Sun, Lime CEO said in a statement. "It’s clear Santa Monica residents and visitors have enthusiastically embraced Lime, with over 180,000 unique riders choosing us as their affordable, zero-emission transportation option since we launched in April."

Cities in Los Angeles County have taken different approaches to the electric scooters dilemma, which received mixed reactions from locals – West Hollywood and Beverly Hills have completely banned them, while others like Long Beach and Culver City have launched regulated scooter share programs with a limited number of businesses operating in their respective cities, Curbed LA reported.

Related: Backlash May Have Doomed Santa Monica's Leading Scooter Companies

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