Just a month after their first bike launch in Amersfoort, Bird, a leader in environmentally friendly electric transportation, have teamed up with Groningen to bring 100 e-bikes to this Netherland’s city while it undertakes operation “Julianaplein”.
Between February 11 and May 9 the Julianaplein will be closed in several directions. This will cause severe traffic disruptions for three months. To allow for traffic, the number of cars on the road network in and around Groningen must be reduced by 80,000 per day during this period. So, for a 13 weeks, Bird’s durable, safe and comfortable electric bike shares will offer travellers an alternative to cars.
Why Bird?
“Bird shares the same ambition and environmental concerns as the city of Groningen. We are committed to offering a sustainable and accessible micro-mobility service to all residents,” said Kevin van der Weel, Operations Manager BeNeLux.
“During the pandemic, we saw how responsive and adaptable cities have been in improving the travel conditions of their residents. Since the health crisis, cities and their residents have been rethinking the way short- and medium-haul travel is done in urban areas. We are proud to offer people an innovative and efficient way to get around – especially as the country emerges from a lockdown. We believe that everyone should have access to micro-mobility, not just those who live in big cities.” He said.
Mandatory parking for all to preserve public space
Bird has developed a technology solution integrated into its application to solve the problem of illegal street parking. Already operational in other cities where Bird operates, the user can see on the map the location of places where he can park his vehicle. The user is then requested to end his journey at one of the 60 indicated parking areas, otherwise he cannot end his journey.
Different traffic zones for greater safety.
The operational zone, where it is permitted to ride an electric bicycle up to a maximum speed of 25 km/h, has been established in consultation with the city. Outside this zone, the vehicle-mounted geolocation system will detect when the user leaves the zone, whereupon the vehicle will automatically slow down and eventually stop. The user will be requested to return to the permitted traffic zone to resume his or her journey or park the vehicle.
*Special launch offer: Unlocking is free until February 21! After that it will be €1 to unlock the bike and €0.15 per minute.*
