Bird offering free scooter rides to teachers in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The number of people riding Bird scooters is soaring in Louisville.

Bird offered free rides to health care workers this spring, and now the company is doing the same for teachers. A company representative said its Bird's way of thanking essential workers.

"We're really excited to do this in Louisville. So starting Sept. 1 through the 30th, Bird is proud to offer all teachers and folks in the school system there up to two free rides, per day, 30 minutes," said Maurice Henderson, Bird's director of government partnerships.

Teachers must apply online by sending an e-mail to together@bird.co with their teacher ID or teaching credentials.

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The company said more people are choosing to use the electric scooter as a safe way to get around and practice social distancing. And Henderson said people are also taking longer rides now.

"The ridership in Louisville has been fantastic! We've seen double the trip length. So the average before was about a mile or so, now it's two. The time on the vehicle has gone up as well, so we're seeing trips of upwards 20 plus minutes," said Henderson.

Bird initially pulled its scooters from all markets, including Louisville, when the pandemic hit, but relaunched in May with 200 scooters and new safety guidelines. Henderson said the company has worked with the city to safely launch additional scooters. Based on city data, Bird is allowed up to 450 scooters.