The City of Derby’s electric scooter program may be gone at the end of this year after the initial 17-month pilot program with Bird Scooters is set to expire. City Council members heard a one-year update from Sarah Gooding, assistant to the city manager at the Sept. 27 meeting. Scooter ridership peaked shortly after the program was introduced in August 2021 with 1,796 rides in September 2021. Ridership dropped over the winter months and picked up again to a high of 1,049 rides in June 2022. Compared to similar electric scooter programs, Derby’s has a longer average ride time of 12.8 to 17.6 minutes per rental. City Manager Kiel Mangus attributed this to Derby not having a traditional downtown and shopping areas and parks being more spread out across the city. After attending a recent conference in Columbus, Ohio, Mangus said scooter rentals were more practical in cities with a congested downtown area.
Source: Derby Informer | News
