Like bike sharing, scooter sharing isn't a marketplace (right?), the only thing stopping competitors is the purchase of scooters, and building an app.
Does Bird have a highly defensible position I'm not understanding?
It is not exactly like the Uber/Lyft model, but you can think of it as the supply side of the equation, and it does create barriers for entry.
I was in a DC suburb last week looking for parking, and found two parking lots across the street from each other. They were both 'smart' parking lots, in that I could pay to park with an app. One of the lots was ParkMobile, which I've used before, and the other was another vendor (I don't remember which) that I hadn't. The latter was the far more convenient spot, but I was in a hurry, and I've used Parkmobile in the past, so I already have a login, payment details saved, etc.
The thought of taking the time to download a new app, go through the registration process, pull out a credit card, type it in, save it, and potentially put my data out there for more risk? It seemed like a lot to do relative to circling the block again, even in traffic.