Santa Monica May Jettison Bird And Lime, Bring In Lyft and Uber Scooters
Written by 991KBU on August 13, 2018
In news from down the coast … it looks like Santa Monica is going to get ride of shared scooter companies Bird and Lime this fall.
The Santa Monica Daily Press newspaper reports Bird and Lime will get the boot … because two ther companies can do a better job.
13 companies applied to operate in Santa Monica … whioch will award two franchises to use the city streets for scooters.
The official selection committee recommended awarding contracts for Lyft and Jump … which is owned by Uber.
That committee was made up of city staffers and a Santa Monica Police Department Lieutenant … they evaluated seven categories including experience, operations, compliance and safety.
Bird and Lime each scored half as many points as Lyft and Jump .. partly because of their poor track record complying with existing laws.
Bird also scored low on their proposed plans for operations and public education.
Bird and Lime are relatively small startups that may have jumped the gun .. by dumping hundreds of scooters on the streets without getting any city licenses or permission to use city property.
Now … the big companies are moving in … and the little guys may get ousted over their unusual business plans.
