Metro Clips Bird Scooters Wings With Cease And Desist

NASHVILLE, TN -- Grand opening, grand closing: just two days after a much ballyhooed Music City debut, scooter-sharing service Bird was shut down by a sternly worded cease and desist notice from Metro government.

Bird, which provides electric scooters users locate via an app and is designed to provide short or last-mile options for commuters, said it was blindsided by the letter, though similarly Metro said it was blind-sided by Bird's launch this week.

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“This is completely new and we didn’t know this was coming,” Metro attorney Teresa Costonis told The Tennessean. "We don’t have anything in place that would allow them to have started operating right off the bat."

At issue, according to the letter Costonis sent to the company, is that Bird scooters, which, unlike B-cycles, don't necessarily have to be picked up or returned to a docking station, were being left on sidewalks and in rights of way. A circle of the scooters were left under a tree on Lower Broadway, according to The Tennessean.

In any event, it doesn't sound necessarily that Bird's chirps will be silenced forever. Mayor David Briley said on Twitter Metro was willing to "amicably" address the situation.

"We appreciate innovation that helps people move around the city, but it's improper to obstruct the right-of-way without a permit. With no ordinances or agreements in place with Bird, Metro has reached out to the company to amicably resolve the situation," he wrote.

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