E-scooters as seen on Kirchberg on 14 October, just days before the City asked Bird to remove them Delano

E-scooters as seen on Kirchberg on 14 October, just days before the City asked Bird to remove them Delano

As our colleagues at Paperjam report, Polfer said she had reminded the American company that “their way of doing things was simply unacceptable”, adding that the company could not simply “take up public domain without permission”. 

The scooters, the safety of which has been called into question by its own users in other cities, could be left “potentially on the rails of the tram”, the mayor added, citing article 9 of the police regulations which addresses waste provisions on public roads.

Discussions are broken not only with Bird, Polfer added. “We have been contacted by seven companies in two years and the answer has always been the same: the City is not interested in an open access electric scooter system. It's as simple as that.”

As for a solution operating scooters through stations, as is the case with Vel'oh, Polfer says that would take more time, a process which would include not only determining where to put the stations, but also, for example, an organised call for tenders to determine the appropriate contractor.