Bird Welcomes Senior Experts from Virgin Hyperloop One and the National Association of City Transportation Officials
Venice, Calif. (October 1, 2018) – Today, Bird, the leader in Rideshare 2.0, announced the hiring of YJ Fischer as Senior Director of Government Partnerships and Melinda Hanson as Senior Manager for Sustainability and Environmental Impact. These additions further Bird’s commitment to partnering with cities to provide a more affordable, accessible, and environmentally friendly last-mile transportation option.
“As Bird continues to grow, cities are our number-one customers,” said David Estrada, Head of Government Relations at Bird. “YJ and Melinda bring years of experience developing and building innovative transportation solutions at the local, national, and international level.”
Fischer most recently served as the managing director of international business development for Virgin Hyperloop One, a high-speed transportation company. She also has public and private sector experience at the federal and state level. Fischer formerly held state government roles in Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, and spent four years as a policy expert and advisor at the U.S. Department of State.
Hanson joins Bird from the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), where she served as the deputy director of the Global Designing Cities Initiative. Before that, Hanson served as a consultant for the Asian Development Bank and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, helping design and implement sustainable transportation solutions in countries around the world. Earlier in her career, she was a founding staff member of the ClimateWorks Foundation, where she managed the sustainable transport portfolio.
“At its core, Bird was founded to help alleviate the incredible environmental consequences our current car-dependent transportation system has on the communities and world we live in,” Hanson said. “Bird’s rapid growth demonstrates the great demand for and opportunity to expand sustainable transportation options that get people out of cars, reduce carbon emissions, and create greener, more livable cities.”
Fischer and Hanson will coordinate with cities to use Bird’s recently introduced GovTech Platform, a comprehensive set of technologies and products. The platform helps local governments incorporate and manage e-scooters as part of their transportation infrastructure. Available in cities where Bird operates, the industry-leading offering includes: insightful, city-specific data dashboards; geofencing capabilities to establish no-ride and -park zones; Community Mode to report unsafe riding or parking; and rider education capabilities.
“Cities across the country are increasingly committed to solving the serious efficiency, safety, and environmental problems inherent in our transportation system. These ambitious goals, from Vision Zero to emissions reduction, can only be reached through close collaboration between the private sector, community groups, and city leadership,” Fischer said. “Bird is dedicated to fostering this partnership, and I look forward to building on this momentum.”
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.
