PROVIDENCE – Touted as environmentally friendly alternatives to other forms of transit, the future of the city’s Shared Micromobility Program offering rentable scooters and e-bikes is unclear after one of its vendors filed for bankruptcy protection in a Florida court.
In a Dec. 20 news release, Bird Rides Inc. announced it will use the bankruptcy proceeding to facilitate the sale of its assets, which it expects to complete within 120 days. The company said in court filings that it lost more than $700 million in 2021 and 2022 and faced more than 100 lawsuits for personal injuries.
"This announcement represents a significant milestone in Bird's transformation, which began with the appointment of new leadership early this year," said interim CEO Michael Washinushi. "We are making progress toward profitability and aim to accelerate that progress by right-sizing our capital structure through this restructuring. We remain focused on our mission to make cities more livable by using micromobility to reduce car usage, traffic and carbon emissions."
The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in September after admitting it had overstated revenue for more than two years. Its most recent financial statements cited a decrease of 5.2 million rides from July through September 2023 compared with the same period last year.
Started under the Jorge O. Elorza administration, Bird, VeoRide Inc., and Spin Co., all of whom signed initial contracts with the city in 2019, are the only currently permitted vendors. A 2022 expansion more than doubled the total number of e-bikes and scooters on Providence streets to 2,200.
At the time, city officials said each vendor would pay $30,000 for permits, in addition to per-trip fees.
Spin Co. was acquired by Bird in September 2023 for $19 million.
Present in more than 350 cities, the Miami-based company has secured $25 million in financing from Apollo Global Management’s commercial lending unit, MidCap Financial, according to the announcement, which insists it has sufficient liquidity to meet financial obligations to municipalities “during and after the restructuring process, and will operate as usual.”
In a Thursday statement, Josh Estrella, a spokesperson for Mayor Brett P. Smiley, said they have been in contact with Bird and Spin “and we have been assured that all operations will continue as normal through the duration of the current permit year which ends in February.”
Per the permit agreement, Bird is required to pay the city a per-device fee and a per-trip fee that varies depending on the type of device and length of the trip, Estrella said. The city calculates this total each quarter and sends an invoice to Bird and the other micromobility operators.
The third-quarter invoices for Bird and Spin were issued in mid-December, "and we are expecting prompt payment as usual," Estrella said. Between Bird and Spin, there are currently 1,121 micromobility devices in total.
Estrella said the city will be issuing a new request for proposals for micromobility devices for the next permit period soon and fully expects to have at least one micromobility company operating in the city during the next permit term.
A November City Council resolution asking the micromobility vendors to “employ stronger provisions and technology in collaboration with the City that prevent the public safety hazard of poorly parked bikes and scooters” stated that “These micro mobility ride-share options have made our city more accessible and helped foster an urban environment that promotes alternative and sustainable modes of transportation and for that we show our great appreciation for their presence on our streets.”
(UPDATE adds paragraphs 10, 11 and 12 with additional comment from Josh Estrella.)
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
Whether moving or parked, these scooters and ebikes are road and sidewalk hazards and should be totally banned anyway, especially since the folks who typically use them are “Bird” brains. Great to see economics catching up to them.