Bird + ACU

After being elected President of the Student Body at Abilene Christian University, Ty spent the summer working on a strategy for the upcoming academic year. One of the projects Ty was working on during this time was a partnership with Bird Scooters. The project was a phased introduction of Bird Scotters to ACU’s campus.

• Increase sustainable transportation options on campus.
• Provide affordable transportation options for international students who may not have a vehicle.
• Reduce carbon emissions.
• Allevivate strain on on-campus parking lots.
• Create an external revenue source for the Student Governemt Associaition

ACU was the first university to sign an official partnership with Bird scooters. Ty oversaw project approval from upper administration within the university, including The Office of Student Life, The Office of The President, Facilities Management, and University Operations.

The project started off a massive success. Within just 4 months, Bird + ACU had eliminated over 15,270 pounds of CO2, sent riders 17,144 miles across
Abilene, and prevented countless tradies in classes. It also offered flexibility to international students and students living in near-by off-campus housing. The partnership generated close to $10,000 of revenue for SGA, which was used to help fund student organizations and campus activities. Unfortunately, after a rough winter season, Bird decided to put a hold on operations and ultimately decided not to return to Abilene without clear reasoning. The best guess for the retreat was the lackluster performance tied to the small population of the Abilene community and the harsh winter conditions that lasted many months.

Students absolutely loved Bird while it was on campus and it helped generate the first-ever external revenue source for ACU’s Student Government Association. At the time of writing, a new group of students tied to an on-campus entrepreneurship group has initiated another partnership with Bird, and will now deploy a new fleet of scooters on campus, owned by the new venture.