Scooter company Bird to lay off 30 percent of staff amid COVID-19 uncertainties, report says

The shorter-term foreseeable future of mobility solutions, from trip hailing to shorter-term vehicle rentals to scooters, is rocky as some end users briefly stray from use of shared transportation.

Scooter companies have been pulling out of various markets around the world as the pandemic proceeds to unfold, which has instigated a needed tightening of functions.

As riders cut down use of these solutions underneath stay-at-property orders in numerous markets throughout the world, some organizations are lessening their fleets or doubling down on cleansing just to stay afloat.

Chook launched a memo earlier in March about raising the each day frequency with which the firm cleans and sanitizes its vehicles and helmets, raising the frequency of its deep-thoroughly clean “Chook Baths” that choose put in Bird’s nearby services facilities, and delivering further gloves for subject services employees users.

Other mobility companies, these types of as trip-hailing organizations Uber and Lyft, also have been navigating the greater have to have for cleanliness and informing drivers and riders of cleansing protocols.

Uber and Lyft also have briefly suspended their shared-rides attributes.

However, need for trip-hailing trips in new months has mirrored that of scooter use and declined throughout the U.S. Many drivers told Reuters they stopped driving over fears of receiving exposed to the virus or infecting others.