[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap] man enters a crosswalk on La Cienega, following the walk sign. A step in, he’s blindsided by a speeding vehicle — one of thousands of accidents that plague Los Angeles pedestrians each year.
Except this wasn’t a car, a motorcycle, or a bike. It was a scooter.
If you’ve been to West L.A. in 2018, you’ve probably noticed people whizzing down bike lanes on “Birds” — the stand-up electric scooters rented out by a company called Bird Rides, Inc. The app startup, known simply as Bird, was founded in mid-2017 by Travis VanderZanden, an entrepreneur coming off stints as an executive at the ride-sharing apps Lyft and Uber.
The core idea is to provide a convenient transportation option for urban trips that are too long for walking and too short for a car. Enter the electric scooter. It’s lightweight, low-profile, and with a service like Bird, very cheap.