Bird lands flock of e-scooters in Santa Ana, but it’s unclear whether they’ll stay

Rather than flying south for the winter, scooter company Bird’s two-wheeled electric vehicles have rolled inland, appearing last week in several spots around Santa Ana.

Since Bird launched in Santa Monica in fall 2017, it and other scooter-share brands have landed in urban areas around the country.

But considering other Southern California communities’ mixed responses to the scooters – fun and convenient to some, annoying and unsafe to others – it’s unknown whether Bird will stay in Santa Ana long-term.

Santa Ana council members have not yet discussed a permanent policy on scooter sharing companies, but the city announced Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 4, that it will start a pilot program this month to see what impact the scooters have and to get feedback from residents and businesses.

A statement from Bird said the company has “voluntarily paused our service while we work with Santa Ana city officials to create a framework that will allow our vehicles to be a last-mile solution for the entire community.” A spokeswoman said for now, the company would be collecting its scooters, which were placed Thursday at the train station, along Fourth Street, in the Artists Village and in the Historic District.

Bird’s e-scooters can be located with a smartphone app that uses GPS, and riders can pay through the app. Unless they need to be recharged, scooters can be rented wherever they’re found and left at the rider’s destination – and that has led to problems in other cities.

Newport Beach saw Bird scooters arrive in July, and the city heard from residents right away, city spokeswoman Tara Finnegan said.

“Their concerns were really related to where the scooters were left,” such as sidewalks and driveways, she said, and there were concerns about people riding them on sidewalks and without helmets. The company removed its scooters when asked by the city, Finnegan said.

If any scooter companies can show how they would comply with city and state rules for motorized vehicles, Newport Beach would work with them, but none have approached the city, civil engineer Brad Sommers said.

Like Newport Beach, Palm Springs last month ordered the scooters out. But they’ve been active in San Diego since February, and the company introduced them in Pomona last week.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido said he hadn’t seen the scooters around town but would be willing to consider allowing them under certain conditions.

“If there’s a safe way to make it work, I’m all for alternatives and for people to have options,” Pulido said, but added, “I’ve also heard horror stories of people getting hurt really badly” on electric scooters.

Some Santa Ana residents have already taken the scooters for a spin.

Noah Rubin, 20, who works full time composing music, said he’s used the scooters in other cities and was excited to see them where he lives.

Using a scooter can help people avoid the cost and hassle of parking and the annoyance of traffic congestion, Rubin said.

The proliferation of e-scooters is “a response to bad city planning,” he said. “It’s kind of fitting a need that a city has.”

Truman Severson, 30, a barista at Fourth Street cafe Hopper & Burr, said it’s hard to argue that the scooters would slow traffic in downtown Santa Ana, because it’s already slowed by pedestrians and cars getting in and out of street parking.

“I feel silly riding them” because the downtown is fairly compact, so scooters don’t save much time versus walking, he said, but “I wouldn’t be upset if they stuck around.”

The pilot program will run Dec. 15 to Jan. 31.