With the warmer temperatures now becoming commonplace local residents may have noticed the city’s flock of Bird Scooters are back out and about.
The scooter program recently resumed following the winter season. The scooter program was approved back in 2021 and Emporia Police Chief Ed Owens says he had some initial concerns regarding the scooters.
Overall Owens says there have been little in the way of scooter-related accidents and the only major issue has been residents holding on to the scooters for a prolonged period of time. He says not only have the scooters been a great asset for local residents, they have also been well received by visitors to the community in recent years.
Those wishing to use the scooters will need to use the use Bird Rides app which is available for both Apple and Android phones. The cost is 15 cents per minute — $9 per hour — and the scooters cannot be used on major highways, except for crosswalks, and cannot be parked on public streets that would interfere with the travel of other vehicles.
