SANTA MONICA—Bird e-scooters have been voted out of the city of Santa Monica. The company will have to have all devices moved out of the city and off the streets by July 1. The city of Santa Monica released a memo on Tuesday, May 11 noting the Chief Mobility Officer selected Spin, Veo, and Lyft to participate in the city’s second Shared Mobility Pilot Program, slated to begin on July 1, 2021.

This follows City Council direction on March 9, 2021, to implement a second pilot program that would build on the first, include new technologies that can improve public safety, consider different device types to meet the needs of different users, and select up to four shared mobility operators to help drive competition. The second pilot program is designed to continue to develop a regulatory structure, ensure effective compliance with applicable laws and promote the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone in the community.

Bird, a Santa Monica-based company was not selected to be included in the city’s second pilot program. The company barely made the cut to be included in the first pilot back in 2018 in comparison to the other companies.

The three highest-ranking operators across the categories of experience, compliance, local preference, device durability and suitability, maintenance and operations, sustainability, safety and rider behavior features, education and outreach, affordability, and customer service are Spin, Veo, and Lyft.

Santa Monica is offering 175 drop hub stations citywide for safe and convenient pickup and drop off of shared mobility devices, including the stations formerly used for Breeze Bike Share.

The pilot is effective beginning July 1, 2021 through March 30, 2023. Bird has not responded to the decision and a two-week appeal period closes May 26, 2021 with appeal decisions released by June 22.

For more details on the March 9 Santa Monica City Council decision, including the goals for the 21-month pilot program, view the following press release. In addition to the decision memo, the Selection Committee also released a memo.

For more details, visit smgov.net/sharedmobility.

Written By Mary Kathryn Grill and Donald Roberts