Bird scooters here to stay amid U.S. bankruptcy
Electric scooter rental company Bird will continue to operate in Canada after the company announced Wednesday it had entered into bankruptcy protection in a bid to repair its finances.
"Bird Canada is not part of the filing and Canada remains a key priority market for the business," said Alex Petre, Bird Canada COO in an emailed statement to AM800 news.
"As such, I want to underline that there is no impact on Canadian operations today, or in the future, and scooters will be available in Windsor next summer as usual," she continued.
Bird first arrived in Windsor in May 2021 as a two-year pilot project. In February 2023, the city moved forward with plans to expand e-scooter and e-bike rental services across the city, with council voting to accept Bird’s proposal to continue operating in Windsor for three years.
The Miami-based company finds itself struggling to survive after losing more than US$430 million since the end of 2021.
Bird has lined up US$25 million in financing from MidCap Financial, a division of Apollo Global Management, as it tries to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Florida.
Michael Washinushi, Bird's interim CEO, predicted the company will be able to bounce back and continue its "mission to make cities more livable" by providing vehicles that don't clog the roads nor burn fuel. But investors seemed doubtful as Bird's stock lost nearly 80 per cent of its remaining value Wednesday to close at 8 cents per share, far cry from its price of about US$154 at the end of 2021.
Bird Canada provided AM800 news with some ridership statistics from the 2023 season in Windsor:
- Most rides taken by an individual rider: 476
- Total KMs travelled on Bird e-scooters & e-bikes in 2023: 194,793
- Average e-scooter trip length (KM): 2.92
- Metric Tons of CO2 prevented by Bird e-scooter & e-bike trips: 52*
- Litres of Gasoline prevented by Bird e-scooter & e-bike trips: 7,845*
*Metric tons of Co2 & litres of gasoline prevented are calculated by using the industry standard assumption that 45% of all e-scooter & e-bike rides replace a carbon emission-producing trip (rideshare/personal car etc.)
-with files from The Associated Press