Bird Reimagines Parking Spaces In DC, Alexandria On Park(ing) Day 2021

WASHINGTON, DC — Bird, an e-scooter and e-bike company, is celebrating Park(ing) Day on Friday by transforming a parking spot in the District of Columbia and participating in the city of Alexandria’s Learn to Ride event.

On Park(ing) Day, residents reclaim parking spots for uses other than parking gasoline-powered vehicles. In some cities, parking spots are turned into community gardens and art installations.

This year, Bird is transforming a parking spot at 1055 5th St. NW to create a gathering place for residents. The parking spot will feature a dedicated structure to sit and socialize and a free helmet giveaway.

Bird employees will be joined by members of the Latin American Youth Center with whom the company recently partnered to assist D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowswer's vaccine education outreach campaign.

In Alexandria, Bird will be hosting a Learn to Ride event at the Parc Meridian apartment building at 750 Port St., just off Eisenhower Ave. The parking lot will be temporarily transformed into a safe riding zone where attendees will have access to free helmets, safety information and ride demonstrations.

The idea for PARK(ing) Day started in San Francisco in 2005. Rebar, an art and design studio, created a temporary park to draw attention to the lack of open space and need for more space for pedestrians. The PARK(ing) Day movement has since grown throughout the world to more than 160 different cities. Local businesses, nonprofits and city departments can all design and host their own temporary park by following the steps below.

Parking takes up about one-third of the land area in U.S. cities. New York City has about 3 million on-street parking spaces, while the length of San Francisco’s 275,500 on-street parking spaces exceeds California’s 840-mile coastline.

“While every day is parking day at Bird, today we’re imagining a world where spaces dedicated to storing private, gas-powered vehicles are instead opened up to communities and better uses that serve more people than one emission-emitting car," the company said in a statement Friday.

"Today, we’re turning parking spaces into public spaces," the company said. "We can take that same approach tomorrow — and continue to work with cities to convert some of that parking into actual parks or lanes for micro electric vehicles like bikes and scooters.”

Along with the Parc Meridian site, Alexandria is recognizing Park(ing) Day on Friday at these locations:

• 815 B King St - Tailgating Party - Bishop Boutique
• 130 S Royal St - Reading and Discussion Parklet - Old Town Books
• 320 King St - Doggie Spot -Animal Welfare League
• 530 King St - Reflection Area - Rhodeside & Harwell, Inc.
• 515 King St (on St. Asaph) - Wainstanley Architects
• 1906 Mt Vernon - Play and Learn - Office for Children
• 4701 Seminary Rd - Reading Garden with Games - Burke Branch Library

Bird said that 10 of its e-scooters can fit in one parking space.

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