ORONO, Maine — Visitors to the towns of Old Town and Orono will see familiar sites, waterfronts, pines, and shops. But one thing found there and nowhere else in Maine are Birds, the electric ride-share scooters.
In 2022, Old Town was the first town in the state to welcome Bird to its sidewalks. EJ Roach, Old Town's director of economic & community development, led the logistical planning to adopt the new transportation.
"It was a unique idea. We were the first in Maine to do it, and we saw it as an opportunity to provide some alternative transportation modes," he said.
Last year, the flock expanded its territory to include neighboring town, Orono. Orono Director for Community and Economic Development Mitch Stone emphasized the importance of continuity and convenience for riders.
"We worked with Bird scooter to make sure there is no gap between Old Town and Orono," he said, "because that was important to help people move through the region."
Roach reports that Old Town residents have found the scooters convenient and easy to use, even mentioning that city staff will use the scooters on occasion to quickly navigate community events.
The Town of Orono has yet to see any problems, big or small. While Old Town, which has had scooters more than twice as long, finds the occasional errant scooter in its rivers.
In addition to a few aquatic Birds, Old Town routinely alerts the local scooter technician to remove abandoned scooters from the bike trail leading into the University of Maine.
This is because UMaine's campus is a "no ride zone," restricting Bird from the area and slowing all scooters that cross onto university property to a halt.
When Bird was introduced to both Old Town and Orono, the university was asked if it too would like to join. Both times, the university deferred. UMaine still has no plans to allow Bird onto campus citing a lack of interest from students.
However, as a partner of the Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System, the university is instead interested in introducing ride-share bicycles. The university feels this approach is a "better fit as part [their] Green Campus Initiative" according to an email statement.
Pending regional collaboration slated to finalize this fall, ride-share bicycles will roll out across the greater Bangor area in the summer of 2025.