Opting out of travel by car isn’t just good for the planet; it’s also good for your wallet.
With gas prices on the rise and nearly 25% fewer adults willing to pay full price for it, e-bike and e-scooter rentals, rebates and retail opportunities are becoming more important than ever. Here are some ways to help make it easier for you to save money by choosing electric and/or pedal power over fossil fuels.
1. Enter Bird’s “Give gas the Bird” Giveaway
What’s our answer to the highest gas prices in the US? Give gas the Bird!
We’re giving away 10 Bird Flex personal e-scooters and 1 Bird Bike to help make it easier for riders to switch to micro-electric mobility. To enter, simply:
- Like our post on Instagram
- Comment #givegasthebird
- Make sure you are following @bird
Giveaway runs until Monday, April 18th, 2022. Winners will be notified via DM by the official @bird Instagram account. Open to US residents only. Must be 18 years or older to win. See here for official rules: https://bit.ly/36842CN.
2. E-Bike Rebates
Cities, states and countries around the world are encouraging people to ride electric by offering rebates and other incentive programs on vehicles like the e-assist Bird Bike.
For example, did you know that Austin Energy customers in Texas can receive up to $300 off the purchase of an e-bike? Similarly, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, your local Air Quality Management District is offering vouchers worth up to $7,500 to trade in your old car in exchange for a new e-bike and local public transportation options.
France and Italy are two examples of countries offering nationwide e-bike incentives, the former offering up to €2,500 for replacing your old car with an e-bike and the latter offering up to €500 for the purchase of a traditional or e-assist pedal bike.
You’ll need to do some local research to find out exactly what e-bike rebates are available near you, but here’s a handy global guide to get you started.
3. E-Scooter and E-Bike Rentals
Every year, trillions (with a “t”) of car trips are made around the world that measure less than five miles in length.
Thankfully, shared e-scooter and e-bike programs are significantly chipping away at that number as more cities begin to offer micro-EV programs. Not only are these electric rental vehicles more sustainable and efficient than gas-powered cars for short-distance journeys, but they allow riders to avoid high gas prices as well.
At Bird, we’re committed to providing our 350+ global partner cities with micro-EV operations that are clean, safe and affordable. That’s why we offer a host of community pricing options to accommodate all riders. In 2021 alone, Bird riders saved more than 1.1 million gallons of gas by riding our shared bikes and scooters.
4. Local Bikeshare Programs
In addition to shared dockless e-scooter and e-bike programs, many cities offer local, affordable, station-based bikeshare programs as well.
These services allow people to rent and ride traditional pedal or e-assist bikes from one docking station to another within a city, typically at 30 to 60-minute intervals. Established bikeshare programs like these play an important role in urban transportation networks, providing local jobs and low-cost first and last-mile transportation alternatives thanks to city subsidies.
In recognition of this importance, Bird has developed the industry’s only Smart Bikeshare Program that allows us to integrate directly with local bikeshare operators. From Metro Bike Share in Los Angeles and V3 in Bordeaux to MoGo in Detroit and Gira in Lisbon, our growing network of bikeshare integrations provides millions of riders with greater access to affordable micromobility options from both Bird and local operators worldwide.
We’ve also expanded our integration to include local e-moped operators such as Zig Zag in Italy and Quari in Georgia.
5. Multimodal Public Transportation Programs
The rise of shared micro-EVs has spawned a new twist on a classic alternative to private cars: multimodal transportation combining micromobility and public transportation.
Shared scooters and bikes are an ideal resource to help close the first and last-mile gap between train and bus stations and a rider’s final destination. By combining these two modes of transportation, riders can efficiently travel long distances without worrying about traffic or gas prices. As Chicago’s micromobility pilots have demonstrated, such multimodal combinations also help shrink transit deserts considerably.
There’s even more good news: as more cities embrace shared bikes and scooters, more partnerships between public transit and micromobility companies are making multimodal transportation even easier. Examples of these include Bird partnerships with WeGo in Nashville, SNCF in France and Trenitalia in Italy, as well as smaller campaigns such as our collaboration with Washington, DC’s Metro to automatically discount scooter rides during a months’ long reduction in metro service.
6. Student and Young Adult Micromobility Discounts
University students and young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 are among the most prolific micromobility riders as they turn away from personal cars in record numbers. In response, many operators are offering discounts through established local programs to help support this environmentally friendly shift in transportation demand.
Bird has several such programs globally. Among these are our partnership with Carte Jeune in Bordeaux that provides discounts to members that are automatically renewed every month. Similarly, Bird has joined together with the Youth Card program in Italy to offer a nationwide 10% rider discount for members 18 to 35 years old.
We also offer university-specific incentive programs such as our partnership with Roma Tre University that provides 20% discounts on rides for the entire academic community, from students to teachers to staff!
To be the first to learn about discounts, rebates and other actions Bird is taking to ensure everyone can choose micro-electric mobility over expensive, gas-powered cars, subscribe to the Bird Cities Blog.
