aid: bird-rides
name: Bird Rate Limits
specification: API Commons Rate Limits 0.1
description: >-
  Bird does not publish numeric rate limits for any of its API surfaces. The
  public GBFS feeds are cached behind a CDN with a 60-second `ttl` field
  embedded in every response, which is the effective consumer-side polling
  guidance. The credentialed city-data portal and the unofficial mobile-app
  backend may enforce server-side limits but they are not documented.
modified: '2026-05-25'
surfaces:
  - id: gbfs-public
    name: Public GBFS Feed
    baseURL: https://mds.bird.co/gbfs/v2/public/{city}
    documentedLimits: false
    guidance:
      pollingInterval: 60 seconds (matches GBFS `ttl` field in every response)
      caching: CDN-served; ETag / Last-Modified respected
      conformance: Per GBFS v2.3 — consumers MUST honour the `ttl` value
    reference: https://mds.bird.co/gbfs/v2/public/los-angeles/gbfs.json
  - id: city-data-portal
    name: City Data Portal (credentialed)
    baseURL: https://city-data.bird.co
    documentedLimits: false
    guidance:
      access: Credentialed; request via city@bird.co or benelux@bird.co
      limits: Not publicly documented; enforced server-side at Bird's discretion
  - id: mobile-app-backend
    name: Mobile App Backend (unofficial)
    baseURL: https://api.birdapp.com
    documentedLimits: false
    guidance:
      access: Reverse-engineered; not sanctioned for third-party use
      tokenTTL: Access tokens expire after ~24 hours
      limits: Not documented; subject to change without notice
sources:
  - https://mds.bird.co/gbfs/v2/public/los-angeles/gbfs.json
  - https://github.com/MobilityData/gbfs/blob/master/gbfs.md
  - https://github.com/ubahnverleih/WoBike/blob/master/Bird.md