The electric scooters that flooded St. Paul last week must be gone by midnight Friday, otherwise the city will remove them.

Paul Stark, Resilience Officer for Mayor Melvin Carter, said Paul officials told Bird Rides Inc. to remove the scooters from the public right-of-way until August 3, when the city will launch a licensing program for Bird and other vendors.

The temporary licensing program, which will be subject to city council approval on August 1, will require scooter companies to pay fees to the city, provide proof of insurance and respect the number of scooters that they can place. There will also be guidelines on the use of rights of way and parking.

"We believe that we will end up in a good position, having the pilot as the first step," said Stark

. According to Mr. Stark, Paul has negotiated with a bogus bike sharing company that would be interested in providing rental scooters, and the guidelines that the city has created will serve as a starting point for managing other vendors. Scooters

will end either with the first snowfall or at a date yet to be determined, Stark said. The city will likely issue a request for proposals for scooter services for 2019. He said:

A Bird spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

As was the case in several cities in the country Bird placed scooters in the public hold of St. Paul without a permit, in violation of the law. ordinance of the city

. Paul's response to Bird's sudden arrival is sweeter than others. The city of Milwaukee is suing Bird for placing scooters in the city in June, and people who drive scooters face a fine of nearly $ 100. In San Francisco, the city authorities issued a stop order after the scooters arrived, stating that they were illegal and harmful to the public.

In Minneapolis, where scooters also appeared last week, the city council will vote Friday Bird initially refused to say how many scooters he had placed at St. Paul's, but Stark said that he was not in charge. he learned that they first placed 100, and then resized at around 35 after the city asked on July 10 that the company was removing them.

The temporary ban prior to the launch of the pilot program does not mean that scooters will completely disappear from St. Paul. According to Stark, Bird is working with downtown businesses to identify where they can park them, Stark said. "