The service is provided by the company Bird, whose mission is “to help make cities more liveable, solving the 'last mile' problem, where trips are too short for public transport to be efficient, but too long to walk."

“Many of these trips are traditionally carried out in cars, which increases congestion and carbon emissions. Scooters will give people in Coimbra an alternative to environmentally friendly car transport, maintaining a safe social distance”, says the company in a statement sent to the Lusa News Agency.

Bird scooters, for users over 18, are tracked by GPS so that the company can track them and ensure that they are used and parked correctly.

In the app that is associated with its use, there is also a “community mode” so that people can report any problems that the company can solve.

"We are really excited to bring our industry-leading scooters to Coimbra. One of the biggest issues facing modern cities is the increase in congestion and the decrease in air quality", says Bird Portugal director-general Toni Riera, mentioned in the note.

According to the official, "Bird's mission is to help solve these problems by getting people out of cars and putting them on shared, environmentally friendly electric scooters".

“Our vehicles have brought huge advantages to towns and cities around the world, so we are excited to be able to help the people of Coimbra get to where they need to be in the most efficient and safe way possible”, concludes Toni Riera.

Bird currently operates in more than 150 cities worldwide.

The company assumes that it considers safety as a "top priority" and has "a series of policies and initiatives to ensure that it becomes a positive addition to existing transport".

For the user to benefit from the service, it is necessary to download the Bird app to the Smartphone and create an account.