Public Safety & Welfare Committee
Regular MeetingVerona, WI · November 9, 2020
Minutes
CITY OF VERONA
PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
NOVMEBER 9, 2020
VERONA CITY HALL
MINUTES
1. Call to order: Heather Reekie called the meeting to order at 5:31 p.m.
2. Roll Call: Heather Reekie, Katie Kohl and Evan Touchett were present. Also present: Police
Chief Bernie Coughlin, City Administrator Adam Sayre, and City Clerk Ellen Clark.
3. Approval of Minutes: Motion by Touchett, seconded by Kohl, to approve the minutes from
the October 26, 2020 Public Safety and Welfare Committee meeting. Motion carried 3-0.
4. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Bird Scooters pilot program presentation
Michael Covato, representing Bird, explained that Bird is a local scooter rental company that
is live in 150 cities globally. Third party studies reports that these scooters are
approximately as safe as bicycles. Safety is a priority for Bird. There is tight regulation on
who can use the scooters, and how they can be used. The scooters cannot be used between
midnight and 4 a.m., the top speed is 15-20 miles per hour, the required minimum age to
operate a scooter is 18, and the company has zero tolerance for unsafe behavior. In-app
education for all riders is provided, as well as rider tutorials. Photos of the scooter must be
taken at the end of each trip to ensure it is in good condition and parked in the proper
place. Bird incentivizes individuals to use helmets by giving riders various bonuses if they
take a picture of themselves wearing their helmet at the end of a ride. Bird Watchers -
individuals that monitor where the scooters are parked - are stationed within the
community. Their purpose is to balance the number of scooters parked in various areas of
the community. The Bird app also provides a Community Mode that allows every resident
to let the company know if they see something is wrong, so it can be addressed
immediately. The company also adheres to strict vehicle safety standards. In addition, a
daily health check is performed on each of the vehicles.
Kohl asked if the company will limit the scooters to seasonal use only.
Covato replied the scooters would be hibernated in the winter, and would not be available
for use at that time.
Reekie asked where no parking zones would be placed.
Covato replied that is ultimately up to the individual community. Each scooter contains a
GPS system. The scooters can be programmed to slow down or stop if the scooter travels to
an area in which it should not be traveling, such as private property or a public park. They
can prevent the scooters from being driven anywhere that the City deems inappropriate.
Kohl asked about the cost to the City.
Covato replied there is no cost to the City.
Reekie asked if additional law enforcement involvement would be required.
Covato replied if there is an enforcement issue, the company will pay any applicable fines.
In the case of repeated abuse of the rules, the company will ban users at the account and
credit card levels as necessary. Education is a first step in the case of an infraction, but in
the case of gross error, the account will be terminated immediately. As a precaution, the
scooters are programmed to allow an individual to set the maximum speed at a level lower
than the scooter’s top speed capabilities.
Touchett asked what is the expected use for these scooters in Verona.
Covato replied the City lends itself to this concept. The community is relatively compact,
making it easy for someone to use a scooter for anything like lunch from the office to
visiting friends in the evening. If a rider is already using public transportation, it opens up
the commuting distance because it will make it easier to travel the last ½ mile from the bus
stop to home.
Touchett asked what you do with it at home. It will be collected by someone through the
rebalancing process.
Touchett asked how this accounts for areas that don’t have sidewalks.
A. There are areas that they can incentivize people to park the scooters. The app can guide
them to those areas.
Reekie asked if you planned to use a scooter every day, wouldn’t you just buy one.
A. People don’t have to maintain them, and if they’re done with it, it’s someone else’s
problem after that. There have been 100’s of millions of rides.
Kohl asked how many they’d be thinking about starting with in Verona.
A. Probably 5-75 to begin. For context, you can fit 25.30 scooters in a standard parking stall.
Reekie asked for Chief Coughlin’s opinion.
Coughlin stated he has more questions than comments. Why Verona, why now, what’s the
benefit to Verona.
A. Adding an additional transportation option that doesn’t remove something you already
have is beneficial. 60% of trips end in front of small business, so it could increase business
and having a corporate campus nearby is a plus. Micro-mobility is still in its early days, but is
growing.
Touchett asked if they are targeting the employees at Epic.
A. Yes and no. There would be local member of the community spearheading the project.
Touchett asked what the threshold is for keeping the Birds in Verona. What are the metrics.
A. Mostly utilization. If the community is not seeing a benefit, it is of no benefit to the city of
the company. They want the city to be happy with the process. When San Diego launched,
there were 9000 complaints in the first few month. 70% of that came from the same 11
people.
Touchett stated he feels they’re targeting the Epic audience. Have they reached out to them
to see if they’d allow the scooters on their campus? There will be a lot of commuting to and
from Epic.
Touchett would like to see something from Epic saying that they support this. He could see
Epic employees using these. Epic has planned for the driving community, with a lot of
parking supplied on the campus. He is concerned on the public safety side. Not used to
seeing scooters on walkways or bike paths. Nearly all of the bus ridership goes to Epic. The
weather is unpredictable, as well. He’s questioning how well they’d succeed.
A. because this is not a massive urban environment does not mean it is not an environment
that would work. Relatively low utilization per scooter would still be viable.
A. If Epic is willing to allow even a single parking stall; it would hold enough scooters for
them.
Reekie stated we need a statement from Epic, some of Chief Coughlin’s questions
answered. She’d like to know what the mayor thinks, as well, and revisit this.
Sayre stated that is a good summary. Staff is looking for direction as to whether or not this
is something the committee wants them to explore.
Kohl asked where they are designed to be driven.
Treat them as a comparison to a bicycle, so would probably be in bike lanes.
5. Adjournment: Motion by Touchett, seconded by Kohl, to adjourn at 5.56 p.m. Motion
carried 3-0.
Ellen Clark, City Clerk
Agenda
City Of Verona
PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
Monday, November 9, 2020 AT 5:30 P.M.
AGENDA
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Verona Public Safety and Welfare Committee will
hold its meeting as a virtual meeting. The Public Safety and Welfare Committee will not
meet at City Hall, 111 Lincoln Street. Members of the Public Safety and Welfare
Committee and Staff will join the meeting by using Zoom Webinar, as described
immediately below.
Members of the public can join the meeting using Zoom Webinar via a computer, tablet,
or smartphone, or by calling into the meeting using phones, as described immediately
below. Those requiring toll-free options are asked to contact City Hall for details prior to
the meeting at adam.sayre@ci.verona.wi.us or 608-848-9941.
Join the meeting via computer, tablet, or smart phone:
https://zoom.us/j/96912405543
Webinar ID: 969 1240 5543
Join the meeting via phone by dialing:
312-626-6799
Webinar ID: 969 1240 5543
The online meeting agenda and all support materials can be found at
https://www.ci.verona.wi.us/. In addition to the public, all Committee members and Staff
will also be participating remotely. Anyone with questions prior to the meeting may contact
the City at (608) 848-9941 or adam.sayre@ci.verona.wi.us.
1. Call to order
2. Roll Call
3. Approval of Minutes from the October 26, 2020 Public Safety and Welfare Committee
meeting
4. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Bird Scooters pilot program presentation
5. Adjournment
Heather Reekie, Chairperson
POSTED: Verona City Hall
Verona Public Library
Miller & Sons Market
City Web Page at: www.ci.verona.wi.us
IF YOU NEED AN INTERPRETER, MATERIALS IN ALTERNATIVE FORMATS OR OTHER
ACCOMODATION TO ACCESS THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT THE CITY CLERK AT 608-845-6495
AT LEAST 48 HOURS PRECEDING THE MEETING. EVERY REASONABLE EFFORT WILL BE MADE TO
ACCOMMODATE YOUR REQUEST.
CITY OF VERONA
PUBLIC SAFETY AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
OCTOBER 26, 2020
VERONA CITY HALL
MINUTES
1. Call to order: Heather Reekie called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.
2. Roll Call: Heather Reekie and Evan Touchett were present. Also present: Police Chief Bernie
Coughlin, City Administrator Adam Sayre, and City Clerk Ellen Clark. Katie Kohl was absent
and excused.
3. Approval of Minutes: Motion by Touchett, seconded by Reekie, to approve the minutes
from the September 14, 2020 Public Safety and Welfare Committee meeting. Motion
carried 2-0.
4. Discussion and Possible Action Re: Extending outdoor seating areas until Dane County
allows indoor restaurant and bar capacity at 100%. Staff has received a request from the
Hop Haus to modify the time period for the temporary outdoor seating/dinning. In the
previous approval, the Hop Haus and other businesses could use the outdoor area until the
middle of November. Due to the continued Dane County restrictions on indoor capacities,
Staff is recommending modifications to the duration, and specifically recommending
approving the outdoor seating for the Hop Haus, Toot and Kate’s and Cahoots until the
Dane County Order is removed or indoor seating is allowed at 100% capacity.
Sayre stated the City was approached by Sara Hoechst from the Hop Haus, asking for an
extension of outdoor seating availability for the foreseeable future. Staff is recommending
that the duration be extended until the Dane County order is removed. The City will not
change its snow plowing operations, so once snow plowing begins, the businesses may have
to make some changes to placement of tables and/or remove them from the outdoor areas
at night.
Motion by Reekie, seconded by Touchett, to recommend to the Common Council to
approve extending the outdoor seating areas for the Hop Haus, Toot and Kate’s Wine Bar
and Cahoots until Dane County allows indoor restaurant and bar capacity at 100%. Motion
carried 2-0.
5. Adjournment: Motion by Reekie, seconded by Touchett, to adjourn at 6:07 p.m. Motion
carried 2-0.
Ellen Clark, City Clerk
What Is Bird?
Bird is a last-mile electric vehicle sharing
company dedicated to bringing affordable,
environmentally friendly transportation solutions
to communities across the world.
2
Our Mission
To partner with cities to get cars off the road. Our
vision is to help create a harmonious and sustainable
transportation network which, when operating
together, provides citizens with a compelling
end-to-end alternative to personal car ownership. By
doing so, we improve air quality, city safety, ands
overall city quality of life.
3
Transportation
Benefits
• Zero cost micro-mobility solution for the city
• Provide a naturally distant, open-aired transportation option
• Reduce congestion & carbon emissions
• Additional sustainable transportation mode
• Supplement bus and transit trips
• Alternative parking solution
• Provide increased access to businesses throughout the city
• Establish a multimodal transportation network
Ground Operations
Operations
Year-round operations and service 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week and 365 days a year.
Bird has a team dedicated to customer support 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
hello@bird.co
1.866.205.2442
Birds are regularly maintained and repaired. When a vehicle is
marked as inoperable or damaged, Bird will remove that
vehicle from the road within hours.
5
How We Work
Find a Bird Scan and Go!
6
In-App Education
Rider Onboarding Rider Tutorials Local Rules Ride Level Messaging End of Ride Photo
Parking
Reminders
We are currently are able to create in-app “No
Parking” zones to educate riders of areas where
they are not allowed to park
These “No Parking” zones prohibit riders from
ending rides when not in an approved parking
zone
8
Riding Zones
Bird will create highly visible and customizable
riding zones, highlighting areas of the city riders
should avoid.
Bird has the ability to integrate its “geo-speed”
technology into riding zones which can reduce the
speed or bring a Bird scooter to a gradual stop.
Recommended Parking Areas
Always know where to park
10
Equity Programs
Bird Access
Offers unlimited rides for 30 minutes or less at the affordable rate of $5 per month.
Red, White, and Bird
Expands access to convenient, last- mile transportation options for U.S. military service
members and veterans.
Accessibility for the unbanked and or those without credit cards
We currently provide options for those without a credit card to use Bird, including the
purchasing pre-loaded cash cards to use in the Bird app.
Text-to-Ride
This new access point enables a rider to start and end rides through SMS text messages.
This removes the requirement of an individual needing a smartphone or a data plan to rent a
scooter.
What is Bird?
Bird is a last-mile electric vehicle sharing company dedicated to bringing affordable,
environmentally-friendly transportation solutions to communities everywhere.
Today Bird serves over 100 cities worldwide.
Our mission is to get people out of cars and:
Solve the last-mile problem Reduce congestion and Improve air quality and Improve the overall
and connect more residents over-reliance on cars reduce GHG emissions quality of life in cities
to transit options
How it works.
Through the Bird smartphone app, riders
can see the closest Bird scooter on a map,
unlock it, complete the safety tutorial and
ride directly to their desired destination. It
costs $1 to start, then a per minute fee.
1 FIND BIRDS
ON THE MAP 2 S C A N Q R TO
BEGIN RIDE 3 WATC H S A F E T Y
T U TO R I A L 4 E N J OY T H E
RIDE!
Bird’s impact on the communities we serve
Prioritizing safety, first. Bird leads the industry in safety.
Safety is deeply embedded across all components
Bird partners with cities across the globe to
of our business- from our policy and operations; to
develop programs that maximize the positive
our community education and engagement; to our
impact of micro-mobility.
industry leading vehicle design.
Starting with less cars on the road
By replacing car trips with convenient options, like
Bird, we can remove the biggest safety hazards
One sustainable
from the road and make our cities safer today. ride at a time.
Bird’s custom vehicles are the most durable
micro-mobility options on the road today. Each Bird
One and Bird Two on the road today represents:
18+ months
O F S U S TA I N A B L E R I D E S
1,500 pounds
O F C O 2 AVO I D E D
Bolstering the local economy.
58% 9X 2.5M
of Bird rides ending at local increase in the reach of in annual take-home
businesses helping connect transit stations expanding the pay for every 1,000
shops and restaurants with mobility and job opportunities Birds in a city
riders in their community. of more residents.
Leading the way on I NCE NTIVES FOR H E LM ET USAGE
innovative solutions for cities The Bird app encourages—and
incentivizes—responsible riding. We even give out
rewards to riders who take a #BirdHelmetSelfie,
Bird is committed to working with cities to
showing us that they wore a helmet on their ride.
manage and maximize the positive impact of
our partnerships. That’s why we’ve developed
industry-leading technology to measure,
innovate, and improve both our fleet and our
reporting. Here’s just a small sample of our
offering for cities:
CUSTOM I N APP E DUCATION
Bird riders are each shown a comprehensive
education program that can be customized to
address your city’s chief concerns.
COM M U N IT Y BAS E D R E PORTI NG
Every member of your community can
access community mode in the Bird app to I N DUSTRY LEADI NG VE H ICLES
submit complaints directly to our team for Bird’s best-in-class teams create innovative
fast resolution. new vehicles from the ground-up. From
self-reporting damage sensors and tip detection
to an industrial-grade anti-tipping kickstand,
LOCALIZE D POLICY ZON ES Bird offers the most advanced shared e-scooter
Bird’s geo-fencing technology allows us to on the road today.
implement no-ride zones, no-parking zones,
and reduced-speed zones with custom
messaging to increase safe riding. PROGR AM S FOR EQU ITAB LE ACCES S
Our city dashboards provide customized
information about how our partnership is helping
to complement the city’s mobility menu.
In-depth data APIs provide cities with detailed
PAR KI NG MANAGE M E NT and historical information on Bird operations and
rider movement within their city.
Bird offers a comprehensive
suite of parking tools that
bridges the gap between
CUSTOM IZE D DAS H BOAR DS AN D
technology and
ROB UST APIS
infrastructure by both
directing and incentivizing Bird provides cities with easy-to-read
riders to park in dashboards and in-depth APIs to help cities
city-designated areas. understand how riders move about the city and
how Bird is complementing their mobility menu.
Want to learn more about if Bird would be a good Just reach out to your Bird Government
partner to meet your city’s goals? Partnerships Representative.
Data Dashboard
Premium dashboard will provide environmental,
ridership and transportation data.
● Calculate C02 reduction
● Plan transit integration with popular Bird
parking locations
● Help improve multimodal infrastructure
planning
● Plan Bird parking locations based on flight
patterns
● Help determine how Bird ridership is deterring
intra-campus Rideshare trips
The 4 Key Pillars of Sustainable Transportation
The E-Scooter Solution
Bird can be a valuable partner to
cities in providing a safe, affordable,
convenient, and reliable addition to
transportation services.
The 4 Key Pillars of Sustainable Transportation: The E-Scooter Solution
SAFETY AFFORDABILITY
More space. Less cars. Fair and flexible.
Scooters are naturally social distant Cheaper than ride hail
• 6 ft of personal space • 50% less than that of a cab or ride-hailing trip
• Single rider in open air • 57% of riders surveyed in Santa Monica reduced
• Zero carbon emissions ride-hail services in favor of e-scooters
Fewer cars = safer streets Local rider discounts
• E-scooters have replaced millions of trips between fall of • Loyalty programs for repeat riders
2018 and spring of 2019 • Ride passes
• Discounts and coupons
• During which time accidents fell by more than 50%
City-led cost relief
Safer streets for everyone
• Reduce or remove fees
• Most riders prefer to use bike lanes
• Support outreach programs to increase access
• Only 7% of riders want to ride on the sidewalk • Subsidize the cost of rides
Bird safety technology
• Selective geo-speed limiting
• Warm Up Mode for new riders
• Community Mode parking compliance
RELIABILITY CONVENIENCE
Here when you need it. Ideal for last mile.
Safer for women Fast and easy
• 29% of women said they don’t take public transit • Scooters can be deployed and ridden
late night (vs. 8% for men) for safety reasons anywhere
with a cost burden that falls heaviest on woman Extends access to transit
caregivers • Scooters extend the transit access shed 9x
Higher accountability by extending the 15-minute travel radius from
• Limited operators leads to greater 0.5 miles to 1.5 miles
dependability and more transparency Rides grew 5X in Los Angeles
Durable vehicle design • During the temporary closures on LA Metro’s
• Steel-reinforced aluminum frame Expo Line in 2019
• Semi-solid tires that never go flat
• Average lifespan of at least 18 months
SOURCES: Bird Safety Report 2019
https://www.wired.com/story/nyc-public-transportation-pink-tax-gender-gap/ Bird Lifecycle Assessment 2020
https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/docs/safe-micromobility_1.pdf Bird Rider Survey 2019
Portland City Survey 2019 Bird Internal Data
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