Getting around in French cities just got easier with the addition of Bird e-scooters to the Assistant SNCF app.
The country’s national state-owned rail company has expanded its multimodal offering, allowing riders to access trains, taxis, bikes and now Bird e-scooters. Nearby vehicles are automatically displayed in the app, identified by a scooter icon. When tapped, each Bird scooter will indicate its level of battery charge and offer riders the opportunity to reserve or unlock the vehicle directly through the Bird app.
“Bird is proud to partner with SNCF to improve multimodal transportation in France,” said Rebecca Hahn, Chief Corporate Social Responsibility Officer at Bird. “Transit and e-scooter integrations like this have a critical role to play in modern urban mobility as they give riders more options and help them reduce their dependence on personal cars.”
An Emerging Trend in Europe
Beyond France, transit and micromobility partnerships are becoming increasingly important in Europe in the wake of a global pandemic that has radically changed the way people move around their communities.
Countries like Spain and Belgium are already implementing mandatory integrations and other public-private collaborations to better incorporate e-scooters into already-existing transportation networks.
“New mobility options like Bird e-scooters and well-established systems such as trains, trams, buses and water-buses are now staples of a modern, healthy and thriving transportation ecosystem,” Antwerp’s Deputy Mayor Koen Kennis said in January, referencing Bird’s integrations with two of the city’s leading MaaS platforms, Skipr and Tranzer, in 2020.
“It’s essential that cities and operators work together to ensure that these robust networks are accepted by and easily accessible to the broad public.”
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