The scooters contribute to a more diverse mobility landscape, but the environmental impacts of producing and maintaining them need to be reduced.
Bird scooters are zero-emission vehicles, but the company faces a sustainability conundrum that it says it wants to address. While the scooters offer an alternative to driving, pollution is generated while collecting the scooters, energy is required to charge them, and their short lifespan means they need to be replaced often.
"But [Bird] is trying to cut those emissions; today, the company announced that it’s buying renewable energy credits and carbon offsets to mitigate the energy used to deliver and charge its scooters," reports Adele Peters.
The company says it is also working to make the scooters more durable. "Some reports have suggested that electric scooters last only about a month or two before they need to be replaced, which would mean the company was using an enormous amount of resources to replace those car trips," notes Peters.
FULL STORY: How Bird is working to make its scooters a truly sustainable transportation option
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
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Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
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