Grant Butler/The Oregonian

Grab your helmets (it's the law), because shared electronic scooters are now in place in downtown Portland, ready for riders.

Bird scooters,

, are the first of the e-scooters to appear on the street. The Portland Bureau of Transportation announced Wednesday it had issued two permits -- one for Bird and one for another company called Skip -- allowing the scooters to operate in Portland.

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Lizzy Acker/The Oregonian

Bird's scooters are now available as far south at S.E. 50th Ave. and Foster Rd. and as far north as N. Killingsworth and Burrage Ave.

The scooters cost $1 to unlock and $.15 a minute to ride.

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Screenshot via Bird

Bird announced in a press release Thursday that the company would be giving away helmets in Pioneer Courthouse Square between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Thursday.

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Courtesy of PBOT

In the release, Bird said it will abide by "its industry-leading Save Our Sidewalks Pledge."

Bird said it commits to: "collecting all of its vehicles each night for charging and necessary maintenance; practicing responsible growth by only adding more vehicles when each Bird averages three or more rides per day; and remitting $1 per vehicle per day to the city to build more bike lanes, promote safe riding, and maintain shared infrastructure."

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Courtesy of PBOT

A Skip spokesperson said Wednesday that company could have scooters available for Portland riders as early as next week.

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Courtesy of Bird

A spokesperson for a third company, Lime, said they are still working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation on permitting and "are excited to launch Lime-S scooters in Portland very soon."

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I rode a scooter for work this morning and it was surprisingly fast and fun. Posted by Lizzy Acker on Thursday, July 26, 2018

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Courtesy of Bird

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