Bird scooters are being removed from Indianapolis. Here's what could happen next.

While the Indianapolis City-County Council works to regulate dockless scooter services, Bird electric scooters has begun removing its vehicles from local streets. The removal comes about a week after competitor Lime removed its fleet.

In a Thursday statement, a Bird spokesperson confirmed that the company has "agreed to remove our scooters from the streets of Indianapolis." The removal began Wednesday.

Keith Parker, a retired member of the Marine Corps who has been charging Bird scooters since they arrived in June, said he has been pulling scooters off the streets for the last two days.

More: What the proposed scooter regulations could look like

More: Lime pulling scooters off streets after city's cease-and-desist order

“They want them all out by Saturday,” he said.

Parker said he brought 30 scooters to Bird’s Lafayette Road warehouse on Wednesday and 72 more Thursday.

He said there are three people pulling the scooters off Indianapolis’ streets. Damaged scooters will be sent to California, he said, and the rest will be shipped to other cities to be charged.

The City-County Council is expected to vote July 16 on an amendment that would regulate the rapidly growing Indianapolis scooter scene, where two companies have been competing for the last month.

Bird descended on the city June 15 with an estimated 500 scooters. Lime showed up the next week with 300 scooters of its own.

Indianapolis officials scrambled to regulate what had quickly become a scooter frenzy in Downtown Indianapolis. The city sent Bird a cease-and-desist letter on June 20 that, until this week, Bird ignored.

When the city sent Lime a letter on July 3 asking the company to pull its scooters, Lime complied two days later.

The city’s solution to the scooter saga is a regulation that would make it illegal to run a scooter company in Indianapolis without a license.

In deciding which scooter companies are eligible, “the license administrator may consider, among other factors, the extent to which the applicant’s operations or the use of the applicant’s Shared Mobility Devices have complied with current law.”

Bird, members of the council indicated previously, had not complied.

“I just don’t think it sits very well with a number of folks in our city to not comply with that request,” council president Vop Osili said on Friday. “Lime has (complied).”

“The people of Indianapolis have enthusiastically embraced shared electric scooters,” a Bird spokesperson said in an email Friday. “We hope that city officials will be able to create a smooth transition to the new permit process so that service to Hoosiers is not interrupted.”

If the amendment is passed as written, there will be a $15,000 annual fee for scooter companies that would go toward paying for scooter enforcement.

"The price is outrageous," said Maggie Gendron, Lime’s director of strategic development, on Friday. “If you want a company to operate in your space, you want them to be sustainable. That fee is above and beyond what other cities are charging.”

More: City-County Council's interactions with scooters

More: You'll soon be able to rent a Lime scooter through Uber

In addition to the annual fee, the city would require scooter companies to pay $1 per day, per scooter. Gendron said Lime is meeting with city officials this week to discuss the ordinance and how to “improve” a few pieces of it.

The only scooter regulations in place right now prohibit riding them on sidewalks and green ways such as the Cultural Trail, according to Thomas Cook, the mayor’s chief of staff.

If the ordinance passes, scooter riders could be penalized for riding on sidewalks. The city would fine scooter companies $25 for illegal parking, such as in front of a building or entrance or in a street.

Aaron Hamer, public information officer for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said he is not aware that any citations have been issued to scooter users.

Parker said riders have been sad to see him collect the scooters. He hopes the service returns after the July 16 vote.

“I wish they would stay because I think people have fun with them,” he said.

Bird seems set on returning to the Circle City. In full, its Thursday statement read:

"We are glad to be working with Indianapolis to build a framework that permits affordable transportation options that help the city reach its goals of getting cars off the road and reducing emissions. While this work is underway, we have agreed to remove our scooters from the streets of Indianapolis and started removing vehicles on Wednesday, 7/11. We hope the ordinance and its resulting permit process is completed as soon as possible so we can get back to helping people easily get around Indianapolis."

The company has had similar experiences in other cities. They continued operations in Nashville after the city sent a cease and desist letter two days after the service launched. The company suspended operations after the city impounded more than 400 scooters.

In Memphis, the company came to a 30-day operating agreement with the city to give it time to pass relevant ordinances.

Call IndyStar reporter Faith E. Pinho at 317-444-6083.

Ethan May is a digital producer for IndyStar. Follow him on Twitter @EthanMayJ.

Justin Mack and Holly Hays contributed to this report.