After being in storage for the winter, ride share Bird Bikes are back in Bend.
“I think they are a great source of transportation. I don’t like that they are left all over town,” Meliah Rutherford of Bend said.
This is the most consistent opinion Central Oregon Daily received about the electric bikes now that they are back.
“There seems to be a better way to communicate where they can be dropped off and picked up instead of abandoning them in people’s neighborhoods,” Rutherford said.
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According to the City of Bend’s Parking Services Division Manager Tobias Marx, the Bird Bike app shows appropriate parking locations for the bikes once a person is done with their ride.
“I think the biggest obstacles are preventing people from leaving bikes where they shouldn’t be left,” Marx said. “We don’t want bikes to block ADA access. We don’t want bikes to block sidewalks.”
He also told us that the general rule is to at least park the bikes at a Bend public bike parking spot if, for some reason, someone cannot get it back to a designated space.
We spoke with one Bend man who bikes all the time and he loves to see people riding Bird Bikes.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Russell Heinold said. “You get outside, it’s really cost efficient when you think about it and it’s really good on the roads too because of the traffic here in Bend is just becoming more like city traffic.”
Another woman has her mind on traffic, too. Marty Verlinich isn’t so sure about bikers and cars sharing the road.
“Well you have to obey all the traffic laws,” Verlinich said. “You can’t just ride through a light because you don’t want to stop.”
While some bikers might not follow the rules of the road, it doesn’t mean all of them don’t.
“People sometimes are people unfortunately and do stupid stuff,” Marx said.
The Bird Bikes are here to stay. More ride share locations are expected to expand into the east side of Bend over the summer.
