Russellville, Arkansas, September 20: Arkansas Tech University is the first institution of higher learning in Arkansas to enter into an exclusive partnership with Bird to offer shared electric scooters to students. Bird, the leader in last-mile electric mobility, will be the only low-speed, dock-free electric scooter company providing environmentally friendly transportation to ATU students and faculty in Russellville.
Communities across the country have embraced Bird as a convenient, equitable, and environmentally friendly way to get around. Bird operates in more than 50 cities nationwide. Bird and ATU will work with campus police, local officials, and student groups to reduce the number of car trips on campus, while providing a new, accessible and clean transportation option for students.
The effort to bring the scooters to Arkansas Tech was led by the ATU Student Government Association and its 2018-19 president, senior Jayson Simmons of Little Rock.
“After living in Washington, D.C., all summer and seeing the impact that Bird scooters had on transportation and even the community, I knew that I wanted to incorporate them into the Arkansas Tech campus and community,” said Simmons, who served as an intern in the office of Sen. Tom Cotton during summer 2018. “The Student Government Association is excited about this exclusive partnership and to be able to give students a new tool for transportation as well as leisure.”
“Arkansas Tech University wants to provide its students with a smart transportation option that curbs traffic and reduces climate emissions, and that’s what Bird can do,” said Stephen Schnell, chief operating officer at Bird. “We look forward to helping ATU students get where they need to go quickly and easily.”
Also available to riders at Arkansas Tech University is “One Bird,” a program providing those who qualify for federal or state assistance programs access to affordable and convenient transportation. One Bird eliminates the $1 base fee per ride, so qualifying individuals only pay 15 cents per minute.
For more information about Bird’s University program, please contact universities@bird.co.
About Arkansas Tech University
Arkansas Tech University is a comprehensive regional university with locations in Russellville and Ozark. ATU serves more than 12,000 students and offers academic credentials that include workforce education certificates, associate’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, a specialist degree and a doctoral degree. As the third-largest university in Arkansas, ATU has students from all 75 counties in the state and more than 93 percent of its students are from Arkansas. Learn more about Arkansas Tech University at explore.atu.edu.
About Bird
Bird is a last-mile electric vehicle sharing company dedicated to bringing affordable, environmentally friendly transportation solutions to communities across the world. It provides a fleet of shared electric scooters that can be accessed via smartphone. Birds give people looking to take a short journey across town or down that “last-mile” from the subway or bus to their destination a way to do so that does not pollute the air or add to traffic. Bird works closely with the cities in which it operates so that Bird is a reliable and affordable transportation option for people who live and work there. Founded in 2017 by transportation pioneer Travis VanderZanden, Bird is headquartered in Venice, Calif., and is rapidly expanding across the country. Follow Bird on Instagram (www.instagram.com/bird), on Twitter at @BirdRide, and find more information at www.bird.co.
