Bird is getting booted from Santa Monica — and setting its sights on Wall Street.
The OG electric scooter company — which maintains its corporate office at 406 Broadway — was not selected to participate in the city’s second shared mobility pilot program and must remove its entire fleet local sidewalks by July 1.
But that’s only Bird’s second biggest story of the day.
Founder and Santa Monica resident Travis VanderZanden announced Wednesday morning that the micromobility behemoth will soon begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
“Bird is planning to go public…through a merger with Switchback II, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC),” he announced in a statement posted to the company website.
“This is the next significant step on our journey to provide the world with safe, eco-friendly transportation.”
But if Bird wants to continue operating in its own backyard, it must file an appeal with the city by May 26.
A final decision would then be handed down by Santa Monica Transportation Director Ed King.
Bird did not return a request for comment.
Bird’s dockless electric scooters began popping up in Santa Monica in 2017. The privately held company soon expanded to over 200 cities around the world.
Despite a rash of public relations nightmares — approximately 29 deaths were attributed to E-scooters between 2018 and 2020 — Bird and its many competitors continued to thrive and expand.
In 2018, the company reached a market valuation of $2 billion.
Santa Monica approved its competitors Veo and Spin to each dispatch 200 two wheel scooters and 500 electric bikes throughout the city. Lyft was approved for 600 e-bikes but will not operate scooters.
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