As the city continues to ponder how to regulate Bird scooters, a recent survey showed most residents want the scooters to stick around. Nearly 70 percent of the seventeen hundred people who responded to a Downtown Living Advocates’ survey were in favor of the scooters, and 62 percent hoped regulations could be put in place to allow them to operate safely in the city. A mere 5 percent wanted to ban Bird outright.
The survey was promoted on social media accounts targeting downtown Raleigh residents, as well as the DLA’s membership, says DLA cofounder Jim Belt. For Belt, the scooters solve the “extra-mile” gap many residents face when using public transit and make downtown more accessible to residents.
Survey data showed a lot of the fear around Bird is coming from those who haven’t tried it yet, Belt says.
“One of the things I suspected that was borne out by the survey was that people that haven’t ridden them might have a negative view because they don’t understand the ease at which these things can be controlled,” Belt says. “You can really go quite slow. In fact, it’s much more maneuverable than a bicycle, meaning you can go very slow without having to stop, and those kinds of things make safety easier.”
Check out some of the survey results:
69 percent felt favorable or very favorable to the scooters
20 percent felt unfavorable or very unfavorable to the scooters
62 percent favor use regulations that protect safety and access
5 percent want the scooters banned
75 percent think the scooters should not be allowed on sidewalks
29 percent think helmets should be required
75 percent think the scooters add to the city’s “cool” factor
