AUSTIN -- Bird was granted a city license Tuesday to officially begin operating again in Austin, the Austin Transportation Department said.
The scooter rental company first launched their vehicles in Austin back in April without the city's permission and were pulled off the streets after officials passed an ordinance.
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Bird will now join Pace, another scooter and bike rental company, who launched their bikes on Monday and were granted a permit last week. A spokesperson with the Austin Transportation Department said Pace was granted approval for 219 permits for bikes at the cost of $30 each.
Bird has permission to operate 500 scooters under the city rules and must prove that each device is being rented at least twice per day.
Austin Transportation has prepared for the dockless scooters and bikes to hit the streets by painting parking zones for the vehicles on sidewalks throughout Austin.
The parking zones can be found at the following locations:
- Third Street between Nueces and San Antonio
- Trinity at Third Street
- Fourth Street at San Jacinto
- Fourth Street at Red River Road
- San Jacinto between Fifth and Sixth Street
A source familiar with Bird said the company expects to have their units back on the streets by Wednesday.
According to the Austin Transportation Department, both Bird and LimeBike, another dockless scooter company, had to pay fees to cover earlier city costs of impounding their units -- Bird owed about $29,000 while LimeBike owed $13,000. However, Bird and Pace are the only two companies who have applied for permits thus far.
For a list of rules from the City that these companies must follow, click here.
