Why did something like COVID effect the use and "contactless" rental of scooters? Was this just collateral damage or did specific changes on laws/regulations cause the pull out?
You were not supposed to go visit a friend on the other side of town. "Non-essential" stores were closed, so no reason to go too far away (and if your closest grocery store is far enough to take a scooter, you're probably not living somewhere where they are present).
However, in between, business was not always fully back to normal. For example, many bars, restaurants and theaters were still closed or operating under restrictions, like only being able to receive public outside (which, of course, required an outside area) and with "social distancing" (which required a large outside area).
If COVID really hurt Bird, what it might be indicating is that Bird's primary user was tourists rather than locals using it as a mode of transportation.
Additionally, at least anecdotally here, as the city centers hollowed out of normal business/leisure traffic, a lot of the rental vehicles were visibly breached and used by homeless folks, which often tarnished the literal appearance and reliability of the rental units in addition to damaging the brand.
But, another perspective.... do you want to take a bus, packed with people? Or even an uber, enclosed? Or, a scooter which you can wipe down the handlebars on?
I'd have thought scooters would have soared during the pandemic.