Bird agrees to suspend operations in Nashville, wait for scooter regulations

Bird on Thursday agreed to suspend its operations in Nashville until new rules are in place to regulate their popular electric scooters, ending an impasse with the city — at least for now.

It means the company will remove its scooters from Nashville's streets and sidewalks, where they have become a common sight over the past month, particularly in and around downtown.

It would take action from the Metro Council to allow Bird scooters in Nashville moving forward.

The agreement between Mayor David Briley's administration and Bird came after the city impounded 411 Bird scooters from the city's public rights of way Thursday, and had promised more sweeps for Friday.

BIRD SCOOTERS: Nashville to Bird: Remove all scooters from city rights-of-way by end of Wednesday or face impounding

The mayor's office and representatives of Bird each confirmed the agreement.

Bird spokesman Kenneth Baer said the company is glad to be working with the city 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 Nashville," Baer said. "We hope the ordinance is completed as soon as possible so we can get back to helping people easily get around Nashville."

Regulations would include obtaining a permit in order to operate, according to Briley spokeswoman Judith Byrd.

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The city has argued Birds — dockless electric scooters that riders pay for with their cell phones — represent illegal obstructions of rights of way and other public property. Users often leave the scooters on the sidewalks after they're finished with their rides.

Bird users are supposed to use streets and bike lanes, similar to cyclists, and not sidewalks. They're directed to park their Birds like bikes "and not block sidewalks, doorways or ramps," but the city says these instructions are being ignored.

Company had started to fight city

As recently as Wednesday, the company had dug in — and fired back — despite an ultimatum from the city that it scoop up all scooters left on public rights of way.

In a letter from Bird's legal counsel Wednesday, attorney Sam Jackson said the city is "grossly exceeding" the scope of the Metro code related to obstructions on public rights of way. He said the code only applies to signs, banners, hedges or trees, or other fixed items that create a “sight restriction”

He also said the city likely lacks the authority to seize Bird's scooters without due process, making the Metro's actions to remove them "unconstitutional."

"Governmental entities do not possess broad authority to seize personal property without a court order," the letter reads.

But behind-the scenes Thursday, city leaders encouraged Bird to pack up in lieu of regulations. The company shifted its position, recognizing that not budging could jeopardize their long-term viability in Music City.

Bird meets with Briley

Briley met with Bird representatives on Tuesday.

The council's Public Works Committee chairman Jeremy Elrod — who has drafted regulatory legislation for Bird to operate — tweeted Thursday that Bird would be a "bad actor" if they continued to operate because it isn't willing to wait on regulations. He noted that other dockless transportation companies are doing just that.

"I appreciate this move and look forward to working with Bird and all stakeholders to bring these new transportation options to Nashville," Elrod said.

Bird, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has been welcomed in some of the 15 cities where it has placed scooters but found resistance in others, including Austin and San Francisco.

The latest confiscation in Nashville — which Metro officials warned Wednesday was coming — came on the first day of the CMA Music Festival, when thousands of tourists are descending on downtown Nashville and feeding even greater demand for the scooters.

Metro engineered a similar round of sweeps last week but returned the scooters to the company.

It was unclear whether the company would have had to pay for the impounded scooters this time.

Cortnye Stone, a spokeswoman for Metro Public Works, said Metro attorneys had been assessing what to do with the Bird scooters that are in the city's possession.

The overall count of Bird scooters operating in Nashville was believed to be around 350 after arriving here May 8.

But the number had clearly reached much higher, as evident by the availability of dozens of Bird scooters as seen on the Bird phone app Thursday afternoon and by how many the city collected. It suggests that Bird may dropped more scooters in town to compensate for those taken up by the city.

A spokesperson for Bird did not answer when asked whether Bird has brought more scooters in.

In court proceedings, the city has asked a judge to issue an injunction to force Bird to remove the scooters from public rights of way. A court hearing is set for June 13.

The regulatory legislation, if approved, would include fees per scooter or bike, consumer education on parking and safety, and would require city access to a company's data on ridership.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.