Electric scooters have been spotted in Cleveland. As part of a pilot program, the scooter-sharing company “Bird” dropped its first scooters in the city Friday morning.
It takes a smartphone application and a buck to unlock the electric scooters that can go up to 15 miles per hour on city streets.
Cleveland City Councilman Kerry McCormack likes that it will encourage people to get out of their cars.
The easier we make it for people to connect to different parts of our city, the more vibrant our city will be," he said. "And I think it’s key to embrace new ideas in Cleveland in order to make us a more innovative city."
But riders not wearing a helmet or using bike lanes on the street pose some public health concerns, said Rick Novickis with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.
"I would have some real concerns about having people on these smaller scooters, not being that visible to drivers, and potential traffic accidents and severe injuries," he said.
Bird has expanded the dock-free scooters throughout some 20 cities in the U.S., including Columbus.