NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - The electric scooter company Bird has paid a Virginia city $20,000 to release 523 Birds from captivity.

Norfolk spokeswoman Lori Crouch told news outlets Wednesday that Bird collected the hundreds of scooters Norfolk had impounded. The company hasn’t redeployed them.

Bird’s scooters started showing up on Norfolk’s sidewalks, unsanctioned, in August. Crouch said in October that Norfolk officials had tried unsuccessfully to schedule meetings with Bird. The city then began impounding scooters that were scattered around town to be ridden by people who downloaded an app connected to a payment source.

Norfolk is looking at bringing in a scooter company that would be sanctioned through city channels.

Nearby Virginia Beach also impounded unsanctioned Bird scooters, but it’s unclear if the company has retrieved those.

Reports didn’t include comment from Bird.

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