I first wrote about Bird, the electric scooter company, back in March 2018. At the time, they had just raised $115 million and their pitch was that they were going to solve the last-mile mobility problem. This is a real problem, and so lots of urbanist-type people, including myself, were excited. I then rode my first shared scooter in 2019 in Lisbon, and I had a ton of fun. I wrote: "Now I know what all the fuss is about."
But it wasn't all puppy dogs and ice cream. People started getting annoyed by the clutter that dockless scooters were creating in our cities (see above photo). Safety also became a great concern, and so they started getting viewed as a nuisance. Toronto never allowed them (despite my insistent blog posts) and Paris -- which had arguably become the scooter capital of the world -- banned them in early 2023.
Now there's this: Bird announced this week that it has filed for bankruptcy. The once unicorn, which had its stock halted back in September because its market cap fell below $15 million for too long, needs cash. According to FT, they have about $3.25 million the bank, but they have an immediate need for $16.8 million to meet some "financial obligations" in January.
This is maybe not unexpected. But I think the important question is: Is this an existential moment for micro-mobility and shared scooters (i.e. this is a fundamentally bad business), or is it more of a case that money used to be mostly kind of free, and now it's not? Either way, I think there's no question that the latter is going to cause further distress throughout 2024.
But the question remains: Can shared scooters be a sustainable business?
My day job is not to be a scooter analyst. But I do think that a number of things are true:
Riders seem to really like using electric scooters and so top-line demand continues to grow.
There are many headwinds for this business ranging from winter usage to politics.
Barring regulation, there appears to be low barriers to entry.
Lime has already claimed to be the first micromobility company to post a full profitable year.
These first and last points are important ones. I believe it's always going to be easier to get people onto electric scooters and bikes than onto regular bikes; people will generally always choose what is easiest. At the same time, here is a company that has allegedly figured out how to offer this service profitably. Assuming these two things remain true, I think we'll continue to find scooters in our cities.
Photo by Gemma Evans on Unsplash
Bloomberg Businessweek just published this article summarizing the impact that Bird and its electric scooters are having on Los Angeles. Here are a couple of highlights:
- Bird launched a year ago and is, today, valued at around $2 billion.
- The company has around 15,000 scooters on the road in Los Angeles. We already know that this is making some/many people grouchy.
- The cost to rent a scooter is $1 plus $0.15 a minute.
- LA has an incentive program in place that allows Bird to expand its fleet within low-income areas. Still, their scooters tend to be concentrated in wealthier areas of the city.
- Beverly Hills is trying to figure out how to handle/regulate these scooters and currently has a 6 month ban in place.
- Supposedly, you can ride a Bird through West Hollywood but you’re not allowed to park it anywhere.
The company is based in Santa Monica, so it’s not surprising that they have such a stronghold in the LA market. Still, there appears to be a lot of latent demand for this kind of mobility.
According the US Department of Energy, almost 60% of vehicle trips in the US last year were less than 6 miles. And around 40% were less than 2 miles.
So these “last mile scooters” do appear to have a lot of utility. Do any of you regularly use an electric scooter to get around?
I first wrote about Bird, the electric scooter company, back in March 2018. At the time, they had just raised $115 million and their pitch was that they were going to solve the last-mile mobility problem. This is a real problem, and so lots of urbanist-type people, including myself, were excited. I then rode my first shared scooter in 2019 in Lisbon, and I had a ton of fun. I wrote: "Now I know what all the fuss is about."
But it wasn't all puppy dogs and ice cream. People started getting annoyed by the clutter that dockless scooters were creating in our cities (see above photo). Safety also became a great concern, and so they started getting viewed as a nuisance. Toronto never allowed them (despite my insistent blog posts) and Paris -- which had arguably become the scooter capital of the world -- banned them in early 2023.
Now there's this: Bird announced this week that it has filed for bankruptcy. The once unicorn, which had its stock halted back in September because its market cap fell below $15 million for too long, needs cash. According to FT, they have about $3.25 million the bank, but they have an immediate need for $16.8 million to meet some "financial obligations" in January.
This is maybe not unexpected. But I think the important question is: Is this an existential moment for micro-mobility and shared scooters (i.e. this is a fundamentally bad business), or is it more of a case that money used to be mostly kind of free, and now it's not? Either way, I think there's no question that the latter is going to cause further distress throughout 2024.
But the question remains: Can shared scooters be a sustainable business?
My day job is not to be a scooter analyst. But I do think that a number of things are true:
Riders seem to really like using electric scooters and so top-line demand continues to grow.
There are many headwinds for this business ranging from winter usage to politics.
Barring regulation, there appears to be low barriers to entry.
Lime has already claimed to be the first micromobility company to post a full profitable year.
These first and last points are important ones. I believe it's always going to be easier to get people onto electric scooters and bikes than onto regular bikes; people will generally always choose what is easiest. At the same time, here is a company that has allegedly figured out how to offer this service profitably. Assuming these two things remain true, I think we'll continue to find scooters in our cities.
Photo by Gemma Evans on Unsplash
Bloomberg Businessweek just published this article summarizing the impact that Bird and its electric scooters are having on Los Angeles. Here are a couple of highlights:
- Bird launched a year ago and is, today, valued at around $2 billion.
- The company has around 15,000 scooters on the road in Los Angeles. We already know that this is making some/many people grouchy.
- The cost to rent a scooter is $1 plus $0.15 a minute.
- LA has an incentive program in place that allows Bird to expand its fleet within low-income areas. Still, their scooters tend to be concentrated in wealthier areas of the city.
- Beverly Hills is trying to figure out how to handle/regulate these scooters and currently has a 6 month ban in place.
- Supposedly, you can ride a Bird through West Hollywood but you’re not allowed to park it anywhere.
The company is based in Santa Monica, so it’s not surprising that they have such a stronghold in the LA market. Still, there appears to be a lot of latent demand for this kind of mobility.
According the US Department of Energy, almost 60% of vehicle trips in the US last year were less than 6 miles. And around 40% were less than 2 miles.
So these “last mile scooters” do appear to have a lot of utility. Do any of you regularly use an electric scooter to get around?
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