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The electric scooter company Bird has taken a step forward on the British market by venturing into the confines of the Olympic Park in London.
While the very dynamic American start-up fails to fully embark in Britain because of laws prohibiting the use of scooters on roads and sidewalks, Bird has found a way to take off.
As early as Tuesday, Bird will be putting his scooters on display along a route in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London. It follows discussions with "several private landowners," according to Richard Corbett, president of Bird in the UK.
The Olympic Park was chosen because its owners, the London Legacy Development Corporation, had already played with new technologies (like a driverless bus) and because Bird wanted to solve what he considered a "mobility problem" .
At one end of the Olympic Park is a corporate campus housing several companies, as well as two university campuses, to which Bird wants to provide faster access. Here is the itinerary:
"This particular place suffers from a half-hour walk to the nearest subway station," Corbett told Business Insider. "By using electric scooters, we are able to go for a four-minute ride in four minutes."
The plan is to start with just 50 scooters and expand according to demand. "The days when you've seen projects without a jetty invading a market and bothering the city are over," said Corbett. "We are making a responsible scaling."
Limited to a top speed of 15 mph, the scooters are geo-fenced, which means that if someone moves outside of the designated route, the scooter will begin to slow down and stop working.
Meanwhile, some designated "bird watchers" will remain in the park throughout the day to ensure that people park properly and descend at a crossroads.
To mark the launch, Bird invited Olympic skier Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards to become his first British rider.
Bird is lobbying against the old laws
Electric scooter companies were unable to embark on the UK because of a 1988 law prohibiting their use on the roads and a law in 1835 preventing them from driving on the sidewalk. Business Insider saw Bird's emails to TfL, the transport control authority in London, complaining about the 1835 law.
Corbett told Business Insider that Bird was pushing for scooters to be on the road and not on the sidewalk. "It's only a matter of time, we have to make everyone travel and we are patient," he said.
He said Bird did not know how long it would take to make a legislative change, because scooters will have to undergo rigorous safety tests.
"We will not launch without the approval of the city, so all that DfT [Department for Transport] wants us to do, we will do to demonstrate viability, "added Corbett.
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