Months after ending a program to help cities fund transportation infrastructure improvements, a company official says city governments were misusing the funds.
"Micromobility firm Bird quietly phased out a program to help cities pay for protected bike lanes and improve infrastructure earlier this year over concerns about how the money was being spent," reports Jason Plautz.
Maurice Henderson, the company’s director of government partnerships, confirmed the news at the Colorado Smart Cities Symposium, held in Denver in August.
"The program had been established to set aside $1 per scooter per day to pay for bike lane maintenance," according to Plautz.
Angie Schmitt broke the news of the program's demise in January.
"Henderson said during a panel discussion that the company found 'most cities were taking the dollars they were getting out of the program and plugging budget holes as opposed to plugging potholes.'"
Read the full story: Bird shutters bike lane program due to misuse of funds
Scooter-Share Company Tosses Financial Reports
Bird was counting money in customers’ digital “wallets” as revenue, and has admitted that financial statements from 2020 and 2021 “should no longer be relied upon.”
Micromobility Growing in Smaller Cities
Shared mobility services are proliferating in small towns and cities, despite the regulatory hiccups operators have been experiencing in larger markets.
E-Scooters Are Coming to New York City
Major micromobility comapnies and lesser known competitors are stating their interest to take part in a New York City e-scooter pilot program slated for Spring 2021.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority