November1

1,201
8

DearMayorBowser
:

Congrat
ulat
ionsonyourrecentre-el
ection.I
tiscl
eart
hatyourconst
ituent
sval
ueyourl
eader
shi
pandtr
ustthatyousuppor
t
andadvancetheirbesti
nter
ests.We,too,val
ueyourstewar
dshipandhopet obeapart
nerwi
thyoui
nhelpi
ngimprove
mobil
i
tyoptionsi
nt heci
ty.

Washi ngtonD. C.hasdi sti

ngui
sheditsel
fasanationalleaderont heissueofsust ai
nabl
et ranspor
tati
on,encouragingits
resi
dent sandvi sitorstoembr acealt
ernat
ivesai
medathel pingall
eviatetraffi
ccongestionandcar bonemi ssi
ons.Andwhi le
thecitywor kst omakepr ogresstowardsmeet i
ngitsambi t
iousgoal ofcut ti
nggreenhousegasemi ssi
onsby50per centby
theyear2032, i
tt hreatenstoadvanceasetofpol i
ciesthatsti
fl
esolutionst hathaveprovent obehelpfuli
nachievi
ngt hat
goal.Forinstance, i
nthemor ethansixmont hsthatBirdhasbeenavai lableinD.C.,
mor ethan580,000mi leshavebeen
taken,whi chhel pedt hecityavoi
dover516,000poundsofcar bonemi ssi
onsf r
om enteri
ngt heatmospher ehadt hosetri
ps
beenot her wiset akenbycar .

TheDepar tmentofTr ansportati

on’
sproposalfori
tssharede-scooterprogr
am woul drenderitimpossibl
eforanypr ovider
toservetheD.C.communi tyandt r
ulyadvancethesharedmi ssi
onofreducingshor tcartripsandtaki
ngmeani ngful acti
on
i
nt hefi
ghtagainstcli
mat echange. Ourhopeisthatyouwi l
lconsi
derint
erveningint hi
sprocessi nor
dert oensurethat
e-scooterprovi
derscancont i
nuetooper at
eintheDistr
ictunderfai
randpract i
calconditi
ons. Bi
rdhasbeenpr oudtoser ve
thepeopleofWashi ngtonD. C.,
andwewantt oconti
nuet oprovi
deourtranspor t
ationservicetoourridersandcharger s
whohavegr ownaccust omedt oourserviceanddependentonBi r
dasar el
iabletransportati
onservi
cei nthecit
y.

TheDepar tmentofTr ansportation’

sproposedcapont henumberofe-scoot er
savai l
ablet
othepeopleofD. C.el
iminates
anychanceoft hi
sprogr am bei ngequitabl
e,ofsolvi
ngissuesrelat
edt otr
anspor t
ati
ondeser t
sintheci
ty,andulti
mat elyof
getti
ngmor ecarsofft heroad. Crit
ical
toasuccessfule-scootershareprogram isconvenienceandaccessibil
i
ty.I
nor der
forri
der stooptoutofdr ivi
ng, t
heyneedconveni entandreli
ableaccesstoalternati
vessuchase-scooters.Al
so,acapped
numberofscoot ersincentivi
zese-scoot erpr
oviderstoputtheirvehicl
esonlyinpopul ar
,hi
gh-densi
tyareas—noti n
hist
oricall
yunderservedar east hatwouldmostbenef i
tfr
om anaf for
dableandreliabl
et r
ansi
topti
onsuchasBi rd.

Thisweek, wesurveyedBir
dr i
dersinD.C.abouthow theyfeelaboutourser viceandasked200peopl ei
ntheci
tyhow t
hey
useBird,andwhatt heyhopetoseef r
om ourser vi
ceinthefuture.Nearl
y90per centofrespondentsnot
edthatt
heyuse
Bir
dtogett owork,torunerrands,ortocommut etoschool.
Aquar terofthosesur veyedsaidtheyuseBir
dtoconnectto
publi
ct r
ansit
.Andawhoppi ng90per centsaidtheywantmor eBi r
dsont her oad.

Theproposedregul
ati
onssuggestthate-scootersmayincr
easethesizeofthei
rfl
eetsbutonl
yonaquar ter
lybasis.The
DepartmentofTr
ansport
ati
onprovidednogui danceforhow i
twi
lldecidewhetherornotaprovi
dercanincreaseitsfl
eetof
e-scoot
ers,
rai
si
ngconcernsaboutt heoversi
ghtandfair
nessoft
hisprogram.Thesystem t
hatregul
atesanytransportat
ion
opti
onintheci
tymustbet r
ansparent.

TheDepar tmentofTranspor t
ati
on’ssuggesti
ont hate-bi
kescangoupt o20mph, whil
ee-scoot erscanonl
ygo1 0mph, is
anothertr
oubli
ngdevel opment .
Thisproposedpol i
cyi
gnoresimpor tantevidenceaboute-scoot erandbikesaf
etywhi ch
suggeststhatadispari
tyinspeedbet weenvehi cl
esusingthesameshar edinfr
astr
ucturewillmaketheroadsofD.C.even
moredanger ousthant heyalr
eadyar e.Vehi
clestravel
i
ngatsignifi
cantlydif
ferentspeedswi l
lcreat
edangerousconditi
ons,
andcouldincreaseoppor tuni
tyforcoll
i
sionsbetweencar s,e-scooters,andbikes.Thereisal
sonodat atosuggestthat10
mphi sasaferfore-scooterri
dersthan1 5mph.

Thesear ej
ustsomeoft heconcer nsBirdhasf ort
heDepar t
mentofTransport
ati
on’spr
oposedr egulati
onsofe-scoot er
s—
concernswebel i
evear
eshar edbythepeopl eofthecitywhowantf ewercarsontheroad,andmor epeopl e-f
irstt
ransit
opti
ons.Moreover ,t
her
egulationsar
eant i
thetical
toWashi ngtonD.
C.’
scli
mateplan,andit
slongstandinghist
oryasal eader
i
nsustainabi
li
ty.Wehopet hatyouwillconsiderint
erveni
ngi nthecurr
entprocessandwor kwit
husondef i
ningamor e
pract
icalsol
utiontoimprovi
ngmobi l
ityoptionsintheDistr
ict.

Si
ncer
ely,

Davi
dEst
rada
HeadofGovernmentPar
tner
shi
ps
BIRD

1625Elect
ricAve
Venice,CA,90291 bi
rd.
co