Bird Bikes Take Flight to Another Location

In his bi-weekly City Manager’s Report of April 4, Jeff Kay broke the news that the Bird Bikes program, providing a “micro-mobility” option for Healdsburg residents and visitors, has been canceled well ahead of its expected expiration date in early 2026.

“Bird recently notified the City of their intent to terminate the agreement and we regret to announce that the e-bike share program will be concluding its operations in Healdsburg,” Kay wrote.

The contract with Bird began on the basis of a federal grant to launch a three-year partnership, but it came to an early end through no action on Healdsburg’s part, but because Bird Bikes withdrew the program unilaterally.

“Due to a shortage of bikes and uncertainty regarding cost and timing of future overseas deliveries, Bird made the decision to relocate the bikes to other markets,” said Larry Zimmer, the city’s chief engineer and Public Works director.

He also relayed an intriguing point: “Bird intended to remove bikes last Friday April 4th. We asked them to provide 10-day notice.” The bikes are expected to remain available through the weekend.

The sudden departure of the fleet of characteristic blue e-bikes was unexpected, but so far has not elicited a storm of protest. The program did not seem to be highly popular among locals, and many of those who took advantage of the opportunity left the bikes at random locations in town, rather than returning them to the point of rental.

But that was never the point, Kay said in 2023. “The Bird bike program is not fully tethered to the docking stations by design. That’s a feature, not a bug.” Bird filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection at the end of that year, and continues to struggle, withdrawing from other cities including Burlington, Vermont.

Meanwhile Bird is taking over from its arch-rival Lyft in the Denver area, suggesting a redeployment of its reduced fleet.

Shiraz Rosenthal, a government partnerships manager with Bird Bikes, said, “While we had some loyal riders in Healdsburg, we consistently saw low utilization of the service overall and unfortunately at this time we do not see a path to long-term sustainability of the program.”

She agreed with the city that “like most businesses, we are at the mercy of the broader socio-economic environment.”

Rosenthal said, “This was not an easy decision for us, given the city’s ongoing support of our efforts to bring eco-friendly transportation to residents and visitors. Should the broader socio-economic environment change, we would love to explore bringing Bird bikes and scooters back to Healdsburg.” Bird has never had a scooter program in Healdsburg, though it did in Windsor. It pulled out last August.

“This initiative has provided valuable learning opportunity into active transportation programs, and we are grateful… to partner in this effort,” Kay wrote in his City Manager report.

More to the point, said Zimmer, “The City does not have a current plan or funding for another bike share or other micromobility [projects] currently. Staff was expecting to bring an item to Council late summer to discuss, but Bird’s departure may change that schedule.”

UPDATE: After publication of this story in the April 10 Healdsburg Tribune, Rosenthal wrote to clarify Bird’s decision: “We did not withdraw vehicles to fulfill a need elsewhere or due to diminishing inventory. Vehicles were withdrawn because we consistently saw low utilization of the service overall and did not see a path to long-term sustainability or the ability to get to the level of deployment that was expected or required to maintain the Healdsburg program.”