Bird to Pull Scooters Out of Denver Early After Losing City Contract

Denver’s sidewalks are about to get a little less crowded.

Bird’s rentable electric scooters are set to be removed from the city by Friday, May 1, according to the Denver Department of Transportation & Infrastructure. The company’s departure comes more than two weeks earlier than scheduled; Bird’s contract to operate in Denver is supposed to run through May 16.

Lyft, which partnered with Bird to rent the scooters through its app, already ceased the rentals several days ago. As of Monday, Bird scooters in Denver can only be rented via the Bird app. The Lyft app now shows zero active scooters in the city and displays an error message when users scan a scooter’s barcode.

Bird’s premature exit comes after it lost a bitter battle for the city’s rental scooter contract earlier this month. The new scooter vendor, Veo, received final unanimous approval from Denver City Council on Monday.

“Given Bird’s decision to shut down service before the end of its contract term, Veo plans to accelerate our deployment timeline in Denver starting on May 1,” says Paige Miller, a spokesperson for Veo. “Phasing up to full deployment faster will help bridge the gap and keep service reliable for residents who depend on shared scooters and bikes for everyday transportation.”

To ease the transition as Veo takes over the city’s rentals, the outgoing scooter vendors were supposed to continue operations until mid-May, according to council presentations during the contract negotiation process. Denver has one of the largest shared micromobility programs in the nation, with over 5.4 million scooter trips taken last year.

The city’s other outgoing scooter vendor, Lime, will continue to provide its rental vehicles through May 16, according to the company.

“Lime will begin our gradual drawdown of vehicles in Denver starting May 1, but our full exit will not be until May 16, as planned in coordination with the city,” says Zach Williams, Lime’s regional head of government relations. “When that process begins, riders may start to see fewer Lime scooters available, but service will continue through the end of our permit term.”

Lime is also sticking around to help transfer users of its free low-income ridership program onto Veo’s access program. Lime and Servicios de la Raza scheduled two mobile food pantry events to connect with and transition Lime Access riders, according to the company. The first event was on April 25, and the next is scheduled for May 8 from 3 to 4 p.m. at 3131 West 14th Avenue.

“All of us at Lime remain saddened that our service in Denver is coming to an end, but we’re incredibly proud of the program we’ve built and are focused on supporting a smooth transition,” Williams says.

Veo is contracted to deploy 9,000 vehicles of five different types throughout the city. The company previously planned to launch 6,000 vehicles within one week and complete the deployment within one month.

Bird spokesperson John Lankford says its scooters are still available to rent as of Monday. He did not respond when asked to comment on the scooters no longer being accessible via the Lyft app.