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Bird's scooters roll into Paris, Tel Aviv in first international expansion

The California scooter-sharing startup has come to Europe.

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Kenneth Schlenker, the head of Bird's French expansion, prepares for the launch of the company's pilot program in Paris.

Eric Piermont / AFP/Getty Images

Bird is bringing its scooters to Paris and Tel Aviv with its first international pilot programs.

The France expansion starts Wednesday, with the scooters becoming available in three districts in the center of Paris, Reuters reports. They'll be arriving in Israel in the coming weeks, when the program will begin on the Tel Aviv University campus.

The pilot programs will consist of of 50 to 100 scooters, the California-based company says.

Bird's scooters will have an initial cost of 1 euro (about $1.17), followed by 0.15 euro per minute in Paris, while the Tel Aviv cost will be 5 shekels (about $1.36) followed by 50 agorot per minute ($0.14), according TechCrunch.

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The company, Reuters notes, has raised $418 million and already spread to more than 30 US cities. It may expand to China and Latin America next.

Bird didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In July, it took on some of its home state's laws on safety rules that require riders to wear helmets, hold driver's licenses and restrict the speed of the motorized scooters by sponsoring a bill to get rid of them.

Shareable scooters can also have a serious impact on big events such as San Diego Comic-Con.

Check out our full guide to the electric scooter and bike craze, and some of the pitfalls riders face.