Months after ending a program to help cities fund transportation infrastructure improvements, a company official says city governments were misusing the funds.
"Micromobility firm Bird quietly phased out a program to help cities pay for protected bike lanes and improve infrastructure earlier this year over concerns about how the money was being spent," reports Jason Plautz.
Maurice Henderson, the company’s director of government partnerships, confirmed the news at the Colorado Smart Cities Symposium, held in Denver in August.
"The program had been established to set aside $1 per scooter per day to pay for bike lane maintenance," according to Plautz.
Angie Schmitt broke the news of the program's demise in January.
"Henderson said during a panel discussion that the company found 'most cities were taking the dollars they were getting out of the program and plugging budget holes as opposed to plugging potholes.'"
FULL STORY: Bird shutters bike lane program due to misuse of funds
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research