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The company said in a release that this will not impact operations in the communities it already serves, and said it has begun a restructuring that involves paying off debt and selling assets in hopes of emerging better positioned “for long-term, sustainable growth.”

The company said it plans to “operate as usual during this process, maintaining the same service for its riders and upholding its commitments to partner cities, fleet managers, and employees,” the release said.

Michael Washinushi will continue as interim CEO, supported by Board Chair John Bitove, President Stewart Lyons, and CFO Joseph Prodan. Last week, Harvey L. Tepner joined the board of directors as an Independent Director, and Philip Evershed resigned from the Board of Directors.

“This announcement represents a significant milestone in Bird’s transformation, which began with the appointment of new leadership early this year,” Washinushi said in the press release. “We are making progress toward profitability and aim to accelerate that progress by right-sizing our capital structure through this restructuring. We remain focused on our mission to make cities more livable by using micromobility to reduce car usage, traffic, and carbon emissions.”

Whitewater partnered with the company in July of 2021 on a one year pilot program where the scooters were used around the university and downtown, then extended the agreement in 2022.

Janesville partnered with the company in fall of 2022 and scooters were used primarily in the downtown area. The city voted to extend the agreement in February.

Bird said it has contacted its city partners and told them about the restructuring and sent them a fact sheet stating that nothing is changing to the maintenance and care of the scooters.

In a statement, Whitewater City Manager John Weidl said the city “acknowledges Bird Scooters’ recent announcement regarding their financial restructuring. We remain focused on the provision of uninterrupted services in our community. Bird’s assurance of maintaining their operations during this period is important to us, as we continue to prioritize diverse, accessible, and sustainable transportation options for our residents, such as scooters, golf carts, UTVs, and our shared ride program with Brown Cab. We look forward to our ongoing partnership with Bird and their contribution to our city’s transportation network.”

Nick Faust, assistant to Janesville City Manager Kevin Lahner, said the company has told the city it is not anticipating the bankruptcy filing will impact its operations here.

“Bird operated in good faith this past season under their Memorandum of Understanding,” Faust said, noting that based on data provided by Bird, more than 10,000 rides were taken on the rentable scooters in Janesville this year, and nearly 18,000 miles ridden.

“A majority of the rides happened in and around downtown. Data also showed that in addition to leisure travel, some riders utilized the scooters to travel to and from work, a neat example of micro-mobility commuting,” Faust said. “City staff were also pleased to learn that according to Bird data, Janesville’s local contractor was one of the best fleet managers in the nation in terms of resetting improperly parked bird scooters in a timely fashion.”