In the video we said we didn't see these often in Montreal or Toronto, but we're in Toronto for a few hours today and we've noticed quite a few of them around, despite the laws.
@АленаЛебедева-ъ6л
3 жыл бұрын
The law exists but not enforced. I live in Toronto and I see e-scooters every time I go downtown.
@xavierjunod5967
3 жыл бұрын
in typical Toronto fashion law are not enforced. Just like the illegal e-bikes that are electric mopeds with foldable pedals. But I'm fine with that if that can take 1 more pick-up truck off the road...
@transportationland6395
3 жыл бұрын
Many people here in Toronto especially downtown use it to commute to work or school, despite the ban. The police don't care as long you are riding safely and with a helmet on.
@70M45-c9r
2 жыл бұрын
Idk how in Toronto, but In Prague Limes (the only company here) doesn't really care...You can find scooters in the middle of sidewalk, street, on a lamp, in a bin, hack even the river is full of them. Limes? No response!
@Grantonioful
3 жыл бұрын
That argument against scooter bans using huge trucks was brilliant, might bring that up next time I talk about it!
@camdentrain
3 жыл бұрын
I'm a really big fan of the idea that bike infrastructure shouldn't just be for bikes, but rather a specific speed range, in between walking and cars. With sidewalks, roads, and this third extra lane, pretty much any type of transportation can be used. Things like E-Scooters, E-Bikes, One Wheels, E-Skateboards and long boards, could all use the same right if way
@theuncalledfor
3 жыл бұрын
Speed and size range. You wouldn't want to allow golf carts on bike infrastructure because they're too wide, even if a specific one fits the right speed range. But yes, I generally agree. Of course, there should be no painted bicycle gutters, because they're just bad. Paint is not infrastructure.
@paxundpeace9970
3 жыл бұрын
I don't mind e scooters e bikes on the cyclane other modes are so rare that i don't bother
@rra7490
3 жыл бұрын
Dont mind escooters using the bike line, share the road. Only have a problem with the few riders who dont signal you and nearly smash into you trying to pass you in a bike lane, since the scooters are so much faster, they zip by you quickly and unexpectedly.
@energeticstunts993
2 жыл бұрын
@@rra7490 i had exactly the opposite problem. the escooters are way too slow! I ride with my bycycle mostly over 20 km/h and with these stuck at 20, its too slow for the big city I live in
@swedneck
2 жыл бұрын
@@theuncalledfor The postal service drives their golf cart-sized vehicles on the shared paths all the time in my city and honestly i'm just happy because it means there's a very influential organization who might press for wider paths.
@zenithian15
3 жыл бұрын
(5:24) I agree that e-scooters pose a greater danger to the riders themselves than to anyone else they may encounter, which is why it's so frustrating (as someone who owns and rides one as my primary means of commuting to work) to see cities banning them outright or restricting their use to sharing the road with cars - something I refuse to do for my own safety. In an ideal world, cyclists and e-scooter riders would be able to safely share well-maintained, separated/protected infrastructure that runs throughout the city. But, in the car-centric world in which we currently live, e-scooters are viewed as a menace to driver, cyclist, and pedestrian safety, even though car accidents undoubtedly and unsurprisingly cause the most injuries and, more importantly, deaths than any other form of transportation. (7:29) This point really drives home the argument for e-scooters: they're cheaper, lighter, and better for the environment than most cars, particularly the bulky behemoths like trucks and SUVs that people seem to love so much. Hopefully, e-scooters will become accepted and accommodated by cities in the near future. Until that day comes, I'm going to continue riding my scooter in a safe and responsible manner to and from work, regardless of whether people find it "problematic" or not, because it's my best option overall.
@jacklong1844
3 жыл бұрын
I think the “scooter-skeptic” cities should allow electric bikes from those services (they have half of the inconveniences the scooters had) it sort of worked for London
@starburst23
3 жыл бұрын
I bought an e-scooter for my commute to class and it's ideal (University of Colorado, Boulder). No sweat and my 15-minute walk is now an easy 4-minute scoot. I also prefer to scoot now to pick up groceries, take-out meals, etc. (I actually just went shopping for clothes yesterday with it, no problem). It's faster than driving and easier. The safety problem is probably due more to the quality of the riding surface as scooters generally are incredibly sensitive to every bump and novice riders may not realize how serious the feedback can be for even smaller bumps. Also, the situation generally in North America with scooters seems to be "new users + new transport + bad/no infrastructure = injuries/deaths."
@legitpancake4276
3 жыл бұрын
I also own a scooter to take to college. I still haven’t figured out how to safely use hand signals. Letting go of the handles even for a second feels really unstable.
@gordonlbelyea4409
3 жыл бұрын
@@legitpancake4276 Oddly enough, I’ve seen using one’s leg in place of the arm recommended as a way of signalling.
@Ubeogesh
3 жыл бұрын
To safely signal turns... Try an electric unicycle instead of a the scooter. Free hands, better stability and portability.
@Optopolis
3 жыл бұрын
Interesting. Just a bit north of there in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Bird has previously started having scooters up here in spite of the pricy cost of about 49 cents per minute. I wandered around the vicinity of Lincolnway, Pershing; College, Ridge; and the residential and business areas, and I ran into lots of infrastructure problems. No bike lanes anywhere, many times no sidewalk (or very narrow sidewalk at best). Most of the time, I felt unsafe on it because of the lack of infrastructure along with high traffic speeds/trafficky conditions. Also, very hard to find a place to park it to the point where I left the scooter I used at the place from which I picked it up (also partly since it was just a test).
@Anonymous-sb9rr
3 жыл бұрын
Larger wheels would probably solve the bumpy ride and make them safer. But who would want unwieldy, bicycle sized wheels on their scooter?
@dougwedel9484
2 жыл бұрын
There are a few people in Nairobi, Kenya, who are making videos which show their bike lanes. We need to find opportunities to include Africa in the cycling discussion, not just North America and Europe. And that's not because "they need the help with bike infra," far from it. We want to encourage them but they have the most amazing modern bike lanes in Nairobi! I'm really impressed! We can learn from their experiences! They bring a lot to the table for comparisons and discussion.
@LifeontwowheelsRocks
3 жыл бұрын
Love your videos, always well-researched and informative. I find the blanket e-scooter bans make no sense. Banning rentals, or alternatively, running rentals of e-scooters in the same way as bike-share programs, with docks, etc. makes sense to me. I live portions of my life on two wheels (Vespa or Brompton, lately more Brompton than Vespa). Keep the videos coming. Who knows, maybe Toronto will eventually learn from you the right way to run a modern metropolis.
@mowana1232
3 жыл бұрын
I live in Berlin, Germany, where there are a lot of e-scooters in the city centre. As far as I can see (based on my observations, not statistics), most are used by tourists to go from one sightseeing spot to the next, or by commuters to go from train and subway stations to their end destination (replacing walks or short bus rides). When these rental scooters are in motion, they use the existing bicycle infrastructure and are not a problem, but there are vast numbers of parked /unused e-scooters everywhere, and it seems to me that supply of rentals vastly outstrips demand. Around train stations, where a lot of pedestrians funnel into relatively narrow entrances, masses of parked e-scooters are especially annoying. It would be good if rental companies and the city would work on providing parking spaces at stations. I also think closer monitoring of idle scooters is necessary and probably a cap on numbers.
@215johnio
3 жыл бұрын
In ever city I've visited which had scooters I always see more scooters just sitting around randomly than being ridden.
@matthewlafrance8817
3 жыл бұрын
Private e-scooter owner here. Absolutely love my purchase. I’ve travelled over 1200km in less than a year. I still own a vehicle but drive it a lot less in the summer. Rentals are alright but I definitely recommend purchasing your own
@transportationland6395
3 жыл бұрын
Yup!
@MarcD1994
3 жыл бұрын
Great video! I agree that private e scooters should be allowed. As you mentioned though, the rental ones cause a lot of problems especially with where you park it. To me, a rental scooters popularity probably means that your city is 1. Unpleasant to walk in and/or 2. Has poor public transportation. On the other hand if you see escooters on sidewalks, it’s a sign of poor bike infrastructure.
@Kishanth.J
3 жыл бұрын
I be honest, I dislike the scooters, but this video has changed my mind somewhat. My main problem comes from their speed. Too often I have seen people zoom through on the sidewalks on these and cross in and out of traffic, particularly in Bytown and Lowertown where I live. I do like Neuron scooter do, since they seem to be more safer than lime and bird. Since they also have lower top speeds as well. I do miss Capital bikes, and other bike rental companies. Especially since I can’t afford a new bike or fix my current one. The escooters are cool but I will stick to bikes.
@KinkajusRevenge
3 жыл бұрын
it's difficult to ride a scooter. Cars will honk at me for riding in the road, (which is where a scooter is supposed to go), and often busier streets don't feel safe to ride on, so I myself will often go on the sidewalks. Although when I do go on sidewalks, I make sure to ride slowly, which is what should be happening. Also, how does one signal a turn on a scooter when 2 hands are needed to properly control it?
@Kishanth.J
3 жыл бұрын
@@KinkajusRevenge I feel like electric scooters should have small signal lights, since hand signals are basically impossible while riding them. My main problem is with red light runners, their are people who blatantly run red and disregard the rules. Also What ever happened to ebike rentals? Those were nice.
@KinkajusRevenge
3 жыл бұрын
@@Kishanth.J On less busy streets, I will roll through stop signs if I don't see anyone coming. Oddly, if a car approaches before me, they always seem surprised that I stop, and will often wait for me even though they should go first. I've also had cars turn in front of me in blatant disregard of my existence.
@Kishanth.J
3 жыл бұрын
@@KinkajusRevenge For some weird reason bad drivers seemingly like to blame bikes for their own mistake. I was once at a four way stop sign and I had stopped for traffic and I was next to go. I entered the intersection and a guy who didn’t stop at the sign nearly hit me. He blasted his horn and yelled verbal abuses at me, asking if I was suicidal or something etc. I was (and still am) a quiet non confrontational person and I was really upset by this since I thought it was my fault when it wasn’t. I ended up riding away from him, parked my bike and walked the rest of the way to school.
@paxundpeace9970
3 жыл бұрын
The issue is the lack of cyclanes and proper space for scooters.
@Rowza245
3 жыл бұрын
We've had scooter rentals here in Brisbane, Australia for quite a long time now, and I think the state government and the scooter companies have really struck a good balance in some of the issues that they impose especially recently. For starters, it's illegal not to wear a helmet as it has been for bikes for decades. While you still do see a lot of people not wearing one or that may turn someone off using one, there's always the risk of getting a fine and people are a lot more accepting of it with it being the norm. Secondly, when they first started out they could only be ridden on footpaths and bikeways and quite recently it's been opened up to be able to ride them on suburban streets that have a speed limit of 50km/h or under. I feel again this is a smart move in terms of car accidents involving them or just them generally holding up traffic. I personally don't feel safe even riding a bike on populated roads, but again with it not being illegal to even ride a bike on a sidewalk it's never really been an issue particularly. I also think that that's helped with the mentality of people using them on sidewalks. In particually busy areas of the city with a lot of foot traffic they are speed limited to 10km/h down from 25, and even places without those limits people are generally courteous and cautious around pedestrians. Lastly the companies and the even the scooters themselves are getting better at attempting to mitigate some of the drawbacks and safety issues. Recently we just had Beam win the contract for the majority of the scooters in Brisbane over Lime. The scooters are so much nicer to ride compared to the competition, with them being much lighter, having decent suspension which makes a huge difference in ride quality and even having indicators built in for extra safety. They also offer incentives for parking them in particular spots which helps in some part to mitigate the whole parking issue and allows people to find them easily. Pricing is also pretty cheap, especially with day passes which give you 2 hours to use them for at most $15 AUD if you're just here for a day trip and going down to $1.50 a day if you plan to use them a bit and pay for the month. In terms of the choice between owning one and renting, owning is definately the way to go if it's available to you. I had one for quite a while before it was unfortunately stolen, and it gives you a lot more freedom in terms of getting around with it always being on hand. But for people who are visiting or who can't afford the upfront cost of their own, rentals are a easy and fun way of getting around. After writing this mini essay of a comment, even I don't know what I'm trying to get at anymore 😅 Just putting my experiences with them out there and trying to be an advocate for scooters in general I guess. While I see some of the downsides of them, especially rentals in some circumstances, it seems to me that here in Brisbane at least that they are actively trying to improve it and make it a viable or even preferred option over driving, and some getting people out of cars and off the road is always good for a city and the environment. Thanks for listening to my ted talk 😂
@cocoacoolness
3 жыл бұрын
I'm in Brisbane too. I don't personally use e-scooters, but what I think is so great about them is that they're increasing the demand for bike ways so the city council has been putting a lot more money into biking infrastructure. I hate riding on pathways, but there is no way I'm riding on the busy CBD roads
@lb2791
3 жыл бұрын
I like the rental escooters, they allow me to go to a new city by train and then move around on foot or on an e-scooter (depending on trip distance) without having to learn how the public transport works or where the good bycicle routes are. I usually don't rent a bike in an unfamiliar city unless the infrastructure is very good, because it feels unsafe. In the past, I would use public transport and walking, now I have another option. Thats a win in my book. Btw in my home city I get around by bike almost exclusively, but that's because I know how to do it without getting run over by a car.
@RobertoFischer
3 жыл бұрын
Your points seem to support docked bike stations too. Those I find much less controversial and much safer.
@lb2791
3 жыл бұрын
@@RobertoFischer Those are great too. I just think they don't serve the same niche as escooters. Escooters are like walking, but a bit faster. They basically extend your walking range. Cycling is for longer distances.
@legitpancake4276
3 жыл бұрын
@@lb2791 I’m kinda of the opposite opinion. My university is about 4 miles from my house, and there are lots of steep hills on the way. If i were to bike, I would be very sweaty by the time I got there in this Texas heat. However my scooter goes a brisk 15 mph and can go up the hills well enough (one particular hill though is so steep I have to walk it up on the sidewalk), so that I get to school in about 25 minutes and not be sweaty for class. If it were a shorter distance, I’d probably take my bike.
@lb2791
3 жыл бұрын
@@legitpancake4276 Sure, hilly terrain means different modes will be better. Now I'd argue an eBike would make for an even nicer and faster trip in your case.
@Catto666
3 жыл бұрын
@@lb2791 but again those bikes a powerful one for said use case would be pricey as hell, youd be better off with a car at that point. A scooter costs anywhere from 300$+ while a e bike starts at 1.5k$ for a decent one.
@98Zai
3 жыл бұрын
I love what you said in the end, the issues with "alternative" modes of transportation isn't inherent to the vehicle, but instead how cities area already designed to handle "traditional" modes of travel.
@SticksTheFox
2 жыл бұрын
I'd say the one positive of rental scooters is it draws light to poor or lacking bike infrastructure. Specially in cities here in the UK (like Birmingham) where its illegal to ride on the sidewalk but fine on the road/bike paths. But the lack of proper dedicated bike routes makes their use extremely limited
@paxundpeace9970
3 жыл бұрын
We should allow e-scooters on cyclelane or multi use parkways like the one in your video. That it can't be used at the University is unfortunate too.
@fluuufffffy1514
3 жыл бұрын
I really like the tone of this video. Even while pointing out the major flaws of e-scooter rentals and the infrastructure that surrounds then, the video feels hopeful and gives ideas for improvement and further study
@johnyboyproduction
2 жыл бұрын
I bought an electric scooter in April of this year, I have been using it to get to work (12km each way) everyday that it isn't raining, love it! Otherwise I would of taken my car on the majority of those days
@gneissnicebaby
3 жыл бұрын
I tried these in Austin Texas during a conference! The place I was staying was only a few miles from the conference center but there was a busy bridge between us, and with traffic it would've taken WAY too long to get to the conference center. However, there was a decent bike lane on the bridge and with the escooters our 30+minute drive was 10 minutes at the most. Plus! It was a fun as well as a cool and refreshing ride. That said, I completely understand why some people don't like them. There were a couple times I thought I shouldn't be riding the scooter. One was the day I wore heels and a dress to the conference. Trying to operate a scooter thats just a little too big while in heels and a dress wasn't my best idea that day!
@chrisschneider7609
3 жыл бұрын
In Brisbane, Australia, escooters are a big deal. Most days if I go out on one I will pass or be passed by hundreds. We have some good bike infrastructure and Escooters are allowed on them or on the road, basically like a bike, footpaths are also allowed. You must wear a Helmet here so all scooters come with one. and the apps force you to take a picture of where you parked the scooter to increase safe parking. Many people in our city use rental scooters and they are far more common. As much as there is an argument for owning your own there is the question of use v manufacturing, just like a car. if you can 10x the use of an escooter using a rental program they become far less of an impact on the environment. Our Council has fully embraced last-mile infrastructure planning and is constantly making it better, safer and easier. This year they proactively sort quotes for eBikes. It will be interesting to see the difference now. One of the other interesting innovations being trialled is discount drop off areas. If you leave it in a certain space your ride gets a discount. This will decrease the amount of them left in the wrong area, although this has quickly become a thing of the past because people are being caught by the operators and banned from their platform. Escooters in our city have been a blessing. Everyone is out and enjoying our city now they can get anywhere without having to walk everywhere.
@crystaldeath609
3 жыл бұрын
I use the rental scooters to get to work when I need to arrive before transit starts for the day or when I miss my bus. Transit isn't always reliable in my city so it's nice to have a cheap and speedy alternative just in case.
@EBIMANNGETSU
3 жыл бұрын
In Japan, e-scooters are considered as motorcycles thus required to be equipped with blinkers and brake lights and being able to indicate without hand signals makes me feel much safer riding them on regular streets with cars. Also, drivers around me are more likely to notice the blinkers and to slow down to let me change lanes.
@BigBoiBarnabas
3 жыл бұрын
My town (on the Isle of Wight, UK) has had a rental program since last year as part of the governments pilot program. Where I live is quite hilly and although you will see some people cycling, it is usually only enthusiasts, along specific routes or recreationally. Most don't commute with bikes as they'd often be completely knackered by the time they got to the destination. This is somewhere the eScooters have really worked. I regularly use them to get into town and back, whereas before it was a 50/50 between driving or walking. If they were rental bikes I probably wouldn't use them as the hills there and back would kill me off before I got there 😂. For towns like those on the Island that are quite small (mine being only 30,000 pop) and hilly, the scooters seem to be the perfect fit. We don't have great bike infrastructure but it tends to be less necessary here as everywhere is connected by public footpaths (which you're allowed to ride on) and so using the quiet backstreets in rush hour and the main roads at night feels very safe and comfortable.
@wizardofyore
3 жыл бұрын
Found your videos recently, loved them. Was watching all your Montreal videos and wishing someone made videos like this about Ottawa and its infrastructure. Awesome to see that you're doing exactly that! Cheers
@sbl17jackson37
3 жыл бұрын
They want e-scooters banned, but dangerous cars, SUV's, and sport pickup trucks promoted. These people who want to ban e-scooters are ignorant.
@maxwellsmith9988
2 жыл бұрын
when I visited Europe I saw that many of the same companies who rent out the scooters also had dockless E-bikes which worked basically the same, and I feel this is a much better alternative
@MaxKing10
3 жыл бұрын
visited ottawa from toronto, tried the bird e scooter and flipped over because there was a sign post on the road that was on the ground that I didn't see. I literally flipped and hurt my arm. thankfully i am ok now, and a bus driver helped me :)
@LeeHawkinsPhoto
2 жыл бұрын
I LOVE the balance in your approach to this subject! And I think bikes and e-scooters would coexist rather nicely on the same infrastructure...they don’t seem like a good idea in busy car or pedestrian spaces though.
@tavianhamer-wilson373
3 жыл бұрын
i love seeing ottawa based urbanism content,, keep up the good work :)
@liliaboisvert
3 жыл бұрын
The price makes them not practical for much transit in Ottawa. The only use I found for them back when I lived there was if I was running late for work I could hop on one and cut 5 minutes off my walk. Ottawa actually did have Bixi once upon a time, I remember them when I was in highschool, but it looks like their last bike share program, VeloGo, ended in 2018. There were plans to start up a city-owned bike-share but the Transportation Committee said the $4m price tag was too much
@Frank_D14
2 жыл бұрын
So glad to have come across this channel and very pleasantly surprised to see you are based in ottawa. As a capital city Ottawa has horrendous public transit and cycling/walking infrastructure. I hope with channels like this and Not Just bikes growing more people will see why we need to infest in people based infrastructure. Personally I like having the scooters around, but not having proper bike lanes to take them or spaces to park them with narrow sidewalks I can see why we would push them out. If anything I think it proves that people want alternate modes of transportation from cars. We just need to build the infrastructure to allow it.
@Rena2star
3 жыл бұрын
Living in Ottawa, I've found the e-scooters most useful either on nights out with friends or times where I don't have my bike - like when I forgot my bus on OC Transpo last week. Not a regular user, but always nice to know that they're around. Also my favourite part of this channel is when Ottawa clips are from parts of the city I know. This video showed my work and I got excited lol Maybe one day I'll be in the background of the clips
@rancidmarshmallow4468
3 жыл бұрын
living in Portland, where rental escooters have been around and popular for along time, I can say I've been blocked/inconvenienced far more often by illegally parked delivery trucks and cars than a pile of scooters. the companies that rent them out have scooter charger employees who go around, charging the scooters, as well as picking up any which are parked badly and often parking them together in groups in good locations.
@elizabethhenning778
3 жыл бұрын
The delivery trucks don't park on the sidewalk.
@rancidmarshmallow4468
3 жыл бұрын
@@elizabethhenning778 They frequently park in driveways or up on curbs blocking the sidewalk, and even more commonly in bike lanes.
@thebikejournal0303
Жыл бұрын
I have my own E-Scooter which I use frequently - even to do minor grocery runs. I also use my bike frequently and try not to use my car unless really necessary. I find the combination of having an E-Scooter and bike is awesome. Sometimes I feel like taking my bike and other times the E-Scooter. The paths around where I live are excellent and I always feel safe. Great video guys.. keep them coming. 👍👍
@yvs6663
3 жыл бұрын
advantage: they r smaller and take up less space. in a car(specially when considering more and more cars will benefit from being parked at some sort of charging station but it also makes parking more manageble) , on a bus(full sized bikes aren't even allowed on buses where i am from) or train. they also let a person arrive to their destination wo being sweaty and while wearing ordinary clothes(yes, i get it doesn't take specialised clothing to ride a bike but there is also stuff like pants getting worn out faster while riding which makes me not want to try it in my work clothes).
@BosonCollider
3 жыл бұрын
Imho, the best argument for them is that for many people they are a gateway drug to wanting bike lanes. People who have ridden one a few times are far less likely to oppose bike lanes.
@swedneck
3 жыл бұрын
I have to wonder how much of the increased danger of scooters compared to bikes is simply because they're like 10 years old, and people simply aren't used to them. I would not be surprised if bikes had an awkward period in the first 20 years after they were invented, when people were still learning about them and society as a whole were getting used to them. And actually, i wonder whether the same would apply to many places in america where people aren't used to bikes and don't know what to expect from them.
@OhTheUrbanity
3 жыл бұрын
Good point. Similarly, being new and different probably makes people more likely to scrutinise their dangers and difficulties, even if they're no more dangerous than existing modes.
@marioncobretti7870
3 жыл бұрын
Im 35, i had a scooter when i was under 10. Aint nothing new about them
@OhTheUrbanity
3 жыл бұрын
@@marioncobretti7870 Maybe some people had eScooters before, but really they took off in the past few years.
@DarkDutch007
3 жыл бұрын
first bicycle was the swiftwalker (a Velocipedes from 1817) you moved it by walking, the first contraptions powered by human via pedal or handcrank 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers and 4-wheelers came slightly later in the 1800s, also different between frontwheel powered or rearwheel powered.. During those times the street was more commonly shared space between pedestrians, cyclists (in whatever form), human pulled carts, animal pulled carts, tram/streetcars and perhaps a couple of automobiles (untill later in the 1800s when you could see more of them appear). Generally the speed of traffic was lower than what is today the case. And this is only my own speculations, but I think the first Velocipedes and pedal/crank powered bicycles (whatever the amount of wheels it had) would probably only have been for the wealthy untill we get closer to the 1900s. While today with bigger speed differences, while still expencive in some cases, the newer/updated modes of transit are easier accesible for more people.
@polappolap
3 жыл бұрын
I love your videos!! They're so informative. Keep it up :D
@ethandanielburg6356
3 жыл бұрын
Very interesting video. Perhaps docked e-scooter systems would be better than allowing people to park the scooters wherever. Additionally, I have heard arguments about how the materials used to manufacture the scooters aren’t so environmentally friendly-the scooters are probably better for the environment than cars, but perhaps not as good as bikes or public transit. I’m not 100% sure about this though.
@paxundpeace9970
3 жыл бұрын
Great channel on Urbanity, transit and land use.
@ShaunakDe
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for producing this. Was informative.
@elizabethhenning778
3 жыл бұрын
Portland OR, and a scooter owner: Even during the pilot, the (narrow) sidewalks downtown Portland were constantly obstructed by scooters left without regard for pedestrian traffic. My own impression was that about 10% of rental e-scooter riders use them as transportation in a responsible manner, and the other 90% are joyriding, often recklessly and dangerously, and often where riding is prohibited. Helmet use is pretty much nonexistent. So the hell with rental scooters. The responsible adults can buy them instead. Scooters are arguably slightly less stable than bikes, but on the other hand they are much more maneuverable and it's much easier to dismount in a risky situation. A bigger problem is the twitchiness, as you point out, since that makes single-hand operation and signalling unsafe. This is due to the physics of the smaller wheels. My own scooter has 12" wheels and pneumatic tires, which makes for a much smoother ride.
@clobberelladoesntreadcomme9920
3 жыл бұрын
maybe they should add some blinking, hand operated turn signals like in a car, so you won't have to take your hands off the handlebars
@Rukhage
3 жыл бұрын
As someone who lives in Vienna I can say that I've found escooters to fill an interesting niche. Obviously it's only 2 years into the rental model, which is what I use since I don't necessarily need one for daily commuting, but since the city already has robust cycling infrastructure and good accountability when it comes to misuse, I've found myself using them very often when I need to do trips that wouldn't make sense in public transport due to distance or time. All in all a very positive experience so far.
@bethchaplin2023
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for the video! I love using the escooters in my community as a way to power up the steep hills and get home quickly from my train station. They DO replace a car. But the cost is quite steep. One ride costs me about $6, and that's prohibitive on a daily basis.
@HollywoodF1
2 жыл бұрын
I use the rental scooters regularly in the separated bike lanes of downtown Long Beach, CA. For my use, they are a replacement for walking primarily, and for ridesharing apps secondarily. I only use my car to leave the downtown area. We have rental bicycles but I don’t want to have to investigate where to pick them up and drop them off relative to my destination. We have busses and light rail but I don’t take those. We also have water taxis and I do use those on occasion because they’re a fun way to get around.
@coastaku1954
3 жыл бұрын
I am a Bike Share Toronto pass holder and I loooooooooove dock based Bike Share systems. They are just so much more convenient than owning my own bike. I recently tried my first Bird Scooter in Ottawa recently and I did enjoy it, but I found that where I was in Downtown Ottawa, their infrastructure for bikes and Scooters was very non-existent, I was squeezed into a left turn lane with very little room and was actually quite scared of being hit. I do want to buy my own E-Scooter since my city of Mississauga has nice paved cycleways beside the roads. Though I do think we need Publicly funded Bike Share systems rather than Private Corporation E-scooter rentals.
@brightphenom2837
3 жыл бұрын
In Indianapolis they will be using scooter fees to fund making the city more walkable and bikable, so that is a plus.
@dougwedel9484
2 жыл бұрын
Kick scooters are easier to learn to ride than bicycles. So this summer when I taught someone to ride, I offered a (non-e) kick scooter as well as a low rider and a classic muscle bike for her to try. She did all 3. Switching between more than one 2-wheeler has advantages. I saw someone before who started to get the hang of riding a bicycle, then it was time to join a group ride. But it was too soon, so he started getting nervous and losing his balance because he was so nervous. Getting the hang of it on one kind of bike boosts confidence. It gives us the confidence to try another kind of 2 wheeler, then another. It also slows down the learning process. It doesn't slow down how fast people learn to bike. It slows down our expectations of... Now you got it! Now you know how to bike! ... you don't need more lessons! And that just isn't true. It takes time to learn and to build that sense of confidence. Seeing and trying many kinds of bicycles (and other 2 wheelers) means we see the learning process of learning to bike as more than just... learn to bike vs not knowing how. Try a recumbent, a mountain bike, a fixed gear bike, and if you know how to do all that, learn how to unicycle, how to ride a tall bike. When you see learning how to bike as like an on/off switch, it can be irritating. When you see each kind of bike as a new adventure to master, it expands our horizons, our scope of what cycling is. And that is loaded with joy. My friend had years of experience as a cheer leader so I knew she had a sense of balance already. She learned quickly. Then I didn't hear back for a few months. Well, she got enthusiastic about all of it and bought a bike AND an e kick scooter! I knew she could do it! I'm so happy she is enjoying it. NOW, the HARD part. Get more bike lanes on Toronto streets!
@KaelCan
3 жыл бұрын
Like the video, and I like your conclusion. I also agree that rentals are not ideal. Cities that usually have rentals end up banning them out right due to all the down sides that you list. Ownership is better as you said it would elminate all the negatives. It would also create better riders as it would be their personal device that would be taken care of much better. I have an electric unicycle and a treat it like a bicycle. I have my helmet and wrist guards that I always wear plus proper lighting.
@HummingbirdCyborg
3 жыл бұрын
One safety concern that I have is that they have a much lower profile than bicycles and that makes the riders less visible. But I can't deny that they are pretty convenient and that they do cut down on car traffic.
@maidtowin490
2 жыл бұрын
The fact that cities ban things based on their failure in providing infrastructure for anything other than cars is pretty annoying.
@damnjustassignmeone
3 жыл бұрын
It’s crazy that private ownership of e-scooters is banned. I live in NYC where they had to change the law to allow them, and trust me, the world had not ended. I own an e-scooter and use it multiple times a week.
@russelldavis1875
Жыл бұрын
I'm a recent escooter purchaser. I figured it would be pretty ideal for my situation, where the expansions of the Seattle light rail have made it a lot easier to get around to various parts of the city, but increased the last-mile (or two) problem for me personally. There's a lot of enthusiasm for them online, but I really have to emphasize some of the compromises and downsides that don't get emphasized enough by the evangelists. One of my main reasons for going scooter over bike is that it would be much easier to maneuver and fit in cramped trains/busses, and could be taken into work/shops so I don't have to risk leaving it out on the street. This is absolutely true, and has worked out pretty well. However I have to caution that, even though I specifically went for an "ultra-portable" model, 30 lbs is basically as light as they get, and even the ones that fold down efficiently and tuck away handlebars are still fairly bulky for a lot of purposes. Smaller people won't want to be carrying these around, so if you think you fit into that category, don't bother unless you're going to be comfortable wheeling it unfolded wherever you're going (and then you're probably better off with a less portable, more stable and dummy-proof model). As you brought up in the video, safety is a problem for scooter riders. Granted a lot of the injury data is from people who are using the rental scooters with no helmet, often drunk, but it's undeniable that they are less safe than bikes. They very good at going fast in a straight line, but are less intuitive than bikes at turning, and not terribly good at sudden braking (without significant practice, and depending on your model). Always wear a helmet, strongly consider wristguards/gloves, and knee/elbow pads. You will fall at some point, guaranteed. Also, perhaps more of a gripe about the model I purchased, but it has three different forms of braking, and you have to use all of them in different conditions to safely brake, and that's not intuitive, which is very bad for something so safety-critical. There is definitely some room for improvement in the market. As for infrastructure, I feel pretty strongly that unless you're one of the lunatics using a 30+ mph scooter (hopefully with motorcycle levels of personal protection gear), protected bike lanes are the place for scooters to be. One of the most critical downsides compared to bikes is the wheel size, which means they can't handle potholes very well, at all, even relatively small ones that bikes can handle just fine. Cars and trucks tear up roads, bikes simply do not. Proper bike lanes (not gutters) should be much better in those terms than roads, which can get brand new faceplant-inducing potholes overnight. On the note of restrictions that various countries/cities have enacted, they seem pretty reasonable when you're talking about sharing bike lanes. The common restriction of 20km/hr (~12 mph) is perhaps a LITTLE low, but I suppose better to err on that side, and I'm generally keeping it well under 20mph in my daily life and don't have any need for more. My scooter has a default speed limit built into the controller of 24 mph, and while you can turn that off, I left it that way and haven't felt any desire to do so. Of course, far more powerful scooter models exist, and obviously those should be classified differently. Probably time to put a speed limit on vehicles that can use a bike lane, what with electric bikes, scooters, longboards, onewheels, unicycles, etc. I would be interested to find out what data exists on safe bike lane speeds. TL;DR, bikes and scooters have meaningful contrasts in terms of why you would choose one over the other in your daily life, but they both can benefit from a lot of the same infrastructure, and have a lot of the same impediments.
@Seadrake
3 жыл бұрын
In Montréal, I use my inline skates during the summer for most commutes under 15km from my home.
@OhTheUrbanity
3 жыл бұрын
Very cool!
@electricerger
3 жыл бұрын
I've been thinking about using something like this recently. I think it is a nice solution to the last mile problem in Ottawa; something that takes no effort but readily available helps curb the OCTranspo bus issue while making it more accessable for people who don't want to bike somewhere. I like biking, and I'd like to be able to do it for my daily commutes, but aside the infrastructure, sometimes I just can't build up the motivation to put in the physical effort. I think eScooters solve that well.
@MrTwostring
3 жыл бұрын
Don't use hand signals on an electric scooter. That's the conclusion from a certain all scooter channel that I watched recently. Always keep both hands on the handlebars... or you will fall. The suggested alternative was --- foot signals. Yes, really.
@OhTheUrbanity
3 жыл бұрын
Hmm. It's interesting. Seems too unpredictable to me for other road users without any kind of signal (if scooters used completely separate infra then fine). But yes, it's a lot more challenging to signal than on a bike.
@MrTwostring
3 жыл бұрын
@@OhTheUrbanity - I agree. My initial reaction is that other road users won't understand foot signals. The video makes a good case, though, for NEVER scooting one-handed. I live in a state where electric scooters are explicitly allowed - but with certain restrictions - and it's something I'm interested in exploring. But have a look at the video. I think this is the one I was thinking of. It starts out with a number of "fails". Notice how many include riding one-handed. kzitem.info/news/bejne/zG2s2Zp4iF9nlaQ
@MrTwostring
3 жыл бұрын
@@OhTheUrbanity P.S. Yes that was the video I was thinking of -- and the bit about signals is in the last bit of the video. I think the whole thing is worth watching.
@melissabaril3363
3 жыл бұрын
You can buy clip-on signal lights for your handlebars. As a private scooter owner for 5 years, yeah, don't try to use hand signals. If you hit a bump, and both hands are not firmly on the handlebar, you are going down. Scooters are a very different animal to bicycles, and unfortunately, not all cycling skills are transferrable.
@MrTwostring
3 жыл бұрын
@@melissabaril3363 Good point.
@ross4
Жыл бұрын
Taking any transit that isn’t a car is awesome! I just rode a scooter to the coffee shop.
@analogbunny
3 жыл бұрын
I actually live in downtown Ottawa (near the Turkish Embassy), and the sidewalks are often littered in abandoned scooters, sometimes literally piled up. The riders often ride on the sidewalks, which in the Rideau street area is a problem as the sidewalks are much narrower than they ought to be. Also many of the riders are drunk tourists roaming the downtown core (usually coming from the Byward Market). All that said, I'm still more for them than against them. People I know who own their scooters ride them in an adult manner, and they're overall good for traffic. I think "the rentals need to iron out some issues" is the most honest assessment.
@chrisc7262
2 жыл бұрын
Another factor when people quote hospital statistics, is that many rental e-scooter riders have probably never ridden one before, let alone in a mixed mode area with cars and pedestrians (so the stats are probably higher then a private use model). Private scooters would create different statistics as those riders would have time to practice their skills riding on private property and could gradually work up to riding in busy city spaces. As you say don't dismiss them as they can help correct the public space balance away from private cars and towards personal active transport. But it's almost criminal when councils are taking money from these e-scooter rental companies but not allowing private citizens to buy their own and use it safely (we need to put more blame on the local governments who create the infrastructure and the environment and less on the people in it that have limited choices for transport, but this is another topic for further discussion). Cheers and thanks for the videos! 👍
@sangle120
2 жыл бұрын
I live in New South Wales, Australia. In 2020 our transport Minister said he was "not in the mood" to change our laws to allow e-scooters on the basis of them blocking foot paths (sidewalks) etc... As you say in your video the issue of parking doesn't apply for privately owned scooters. I wish they could be legalised for private ownership here even if rentals weren't allowed- which would be totally feasible to be written into laws.
@Notfallkaramell
3 жыл бұрын
They would help me walking to school. One hour is too long for me to school and back home, especially since I can't lift one of my legs fully since a few days ago.
@GalladofBales
2 жыл бұрын
Very comprehensive video! I personally was a little too freaked out riding these in San Diego, especially because we had to share the road with cars. I felt very unstable and gave up pretty quickly. I was also on vacation and didn’t have a helmet. I can definitely see the benefits of owning an e-scooter though even if maybe it’s not for me. The price of the rentals is shocking to me, had a coworker miss the bus and decide to take one of these home and said he spent $40 on the ride. For that price it seems like people would likely just choose uber/lyft instead. I think if we had safe bike lanes everywhere I would use these more for last mile trips, but as long as they have to share the road with cars I’m out
@JasonMcCarrell
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks, I appreciate this. I'm trying to figure out where to go with e-scooters. I find them convinient for last mile, or for when im ok walking 30 minutes somewhere, but im NOT ok walking back for 30 minutes somewhere [an e-scooter would be like 10 minutes, and Ottawa public transit... LOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLO] I think I'll share this with my mobility committee, maybe they'd enjoy the perspective.
@Anna_Rae
Жыл бұрын
That is a really cute backpack at 0:41❤️❤️❤️
@emmeeemm
3 жыл бұрын
We have a program like this in Pittsburgh, PA, USA right now, from a company called Spin (who also deploy orange escooters). It seems pretty unpopular for non-users here. And we have had our share of stories about massively unsafe use. The thing that bugs me here specifically is that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has a fact sheet about escooters, mopeds, motor-driven cycles, and motorcycles, and the classes of license required to pilot each. Escooters, it turns out, cannot be road-legal in PA because they do not have the safety features necessary to be registered and license-plated, yet they are not generally exempt from the registration requirement if they were to be used as road vehicles. Additionally, such vehicles cannot be operated on sidewalks (although PennDOT does not elaborate on why that is). Basically, in Pittsburgh (in PA, really), you *can't* use a privately-owned escooter in the way suggested in this video. I did some digging and learned that Spin actually had a special exception carved out for them by our State legislature, which explicitly allows their program to operate. While Pittsburgh has gotten several bike lanes and a lot of "share the road with bikes" notation in the last several years, and I appreciate the problem that Spin and the Move PGH program are trying to solve, escooters are not the way to do it in Pittsburgh. Those scooters don't go fast enough to safely mingle with traffic, and their users seem to be some of the least safe riders on our city roads, in practice. But the only alternatives at this time are a public transit system that isn't getting substantially better, shared bicycles (requiring physical fitness), or a number of options that require a minimum of a driver's license. Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania badly need to rethink both eScooter policy and urban street engineering for our local escooter program to have a positive place here.
@pelicanformation3802
2 жыл бұрын
I used a scooter recently as a car alternative. The problem with the rentals is the no ride areas where the machine will just stop sometimes in the middle of the road. they are great fun and often cheaper than paying for parking. It was certainly cheaper than a hire car when exploring a city. Maybe, there needs to be a little more trust of the users.
@benjamincasebolt2959
3 жыл бұрын
I totally see the benefits of E scooters, Ive used them to get home when I popped a tire on my bike or had other damage but my city leaves them in the middle of the bike lane and often not just a single scooter but a line of them that plus people riding them recklessly leave me with a pretty negative opinion of them overall though.
@vivadrags
3 жыл бұрын
another great video guys, keep it up
@jiml3456
2 жыл бұрын
China has 100+ million ebikes/escooters/e-motorbikes on the streets. They're a highly affordable, pollution free and fast option for urban commuters. In a country with record traffic jams they are a much needed relief. These things can be charged with plug-in cables which can be pretty much found everywhere in Chinese cities. Bike lanes are also common on major roads and are much wider than in NA. Combined with a world-class subway system, this results in Chinese people emitting a lot less CO2 than Americans despite being the world's factory. Safety is a huge concern however but can be improved with stricter regulations.
@user-bc7cb8uu7e
2 жыл бұрын
I think the escooters are fun, but the issues you mentioned around cost are a big problem for me. It's good to know the monthly passes exist (though they don't really suit my infrequent use), but without those, you often spend as much taking a scooter across town as you would on an uber/lyft, far more than the bus, but get there much later and take a greater risk (escooters feel more dangerous than bikes to me, as I've been thrown from them a couple times hitting relatively minor bumps in the sidewalk/road that I didn't pay enough attention to, while still facing all the concerns a bike commuter would). I personally don't see much usecase for them, but it's good to know some people are getting use out of them. Thanks for showing the stats on that, as it definitely turns around my opinion on them a bit.
@riahmatic
3 жыл бұрын
Rentals are uniquely useful for visitors and spontaneous or one-way trips. Cities should create more parking for scooters and then tax rental companies to operate within the city. I still tend to prefer them over rental bikes unless I need storage space.
@mikewtp
3 жыл бұрын
I think they are a great non-car transportation option. As the video and many commentators have noted, the issues with the rental scooters are illegal sidewalk riding and improper sidewalk parking. I find them frequently blocking sidewalks in Centretown and it's problematic that policing their use has fallen largely on citizens. Companies and users should face fines and fees for improper parking: the user should be charged by the company when the scooter is found blocking a sidewalk; the company should be fined by the city if they fail to enforce proper use. If users can't ride their rental scooters on 40Kmph city streets or in bike lanes, they probably shouldn't be riding them at all.
@AdamBreard
3 жыл бұрын
I find some e-scooters (the ones you can buy) to be way too fast. I often get passed by careless rider going 30 kmph on a narrow bike path in the city. Anecdotally, I’ve seen riders dismiss bikes for being too slow, but this is circumstantial at best. Although the same could be said for e-bikes, I find bike riders to be usually more cautious. Perhaps we will find the right balance in the coming years.
@swedneck
3 жыл бұрын
Here in sweden the legal limit is 20km/h, which i think is very reasonable. It's fast enough that you can get places in a reasonable amount of time, but avoids a lot of danger and annoyance. The one thing i think is missing in regulations is to mandate a cruise control feature, my xiaomi essential lite has a weirdly implemented one and i feel that being able to precisely set the speed would both make things much more comfortable for me and much safer since i could easily adjust my speed depending on where i am.
@paxundpeace9970
3 жыл бұрын
Most are limited to 20km/h
@roninnder
2 жыл бұрын
E-scooters are a problem in my North American city. Their max speed is 20 mph but they’re not allowed on roads, so they’re on the sidewalks with the pedestrians. It’s really dangerous trying to walk.
@Arjay404
3 жыл бұрын
eScooters are a lot more susceptible to poor roads/sidewalks or debris because of their much smaller wheels with zero give. You could run into a large pebble and come to a complete stop and get thrown of the scooter. With a bike anything that could be a hindrance is usually large enough to be spotted and avoided. Also eScooters are a lot less useful for anything but going from point A to point B. You can't really care any bags on it or any cargo at all. Anything that you want to carry has to be carried by the rider instead of the vehicle, which really reduces it's practicality. A decent way to handle the parking and use of these things if it they are combined and adopted/provided by public transport company. Imagine there being 3 eScooters at every bus stop, that's where you pick them up and that's where you park them for long term storage. Could allow people to get off the bus, just on the scooter, ride home and drop off their belongings and then you can go back by bike and drop them off or drop them off when you go back out to buy groceries. I mean hell if you really wanted to go crazy with this you could have racks on the busses like you have some places with the racks in front of the bus or even dedicated a small area in the bus that has these.When coming home from work, right before you get to your bus stop you swipe a card or use the app to rent one, you get out and take it home with you for the night and store it in your house. While at home you can choose to charge it and if you return it with more power than when you got it you get credit for that or maybe even get to have kept it overnight for free. Then in the morning you jump on the scooter, ride to the bus stop, get on the bus and put it in the same designated area that you picked it up.
@petergilbert72
2 жыл бұрын
Was in Spain recently and students on transit had their own which went into the train with them. (Their trains are spacious compared with the European standard). Scooters seemed to come in different sizes- and presumably weights, ranges, and price.
@mackereltabbie
2 жыл бұрын
Where I live (Bergen, Norway) eScooters are pretty much just used as an alternative to walking. Nobody ever uses them as an alternative to a car, I don't think that would even be possible. They're mostly a nuisance, people leave them all over the place, ride them drunk, and bump into pedestrians causing injuries including to toddlers as they're allowed on sidewalks
@willardSpirit
Жыл бұрын
One down side is it uses big vans/trucks to locate and disperse them equally around the city. So I won't say it's green. If they have docking stations I'm okay with it
@kailahmann1823
Жыл бұрын
I think privately owned scooters can play an interesting role in combination with public transit: You can use them to ride to the next transit station, fold them, take them with you into the bus and at the destination you can go on with your scooter. This increases the distance served by a single bus stop, something very important for American suburbs. For rental however I am very skeptical - the riders have much less experience, usually don't use helmets and after use they are just "thrown away". The lower stability compared to bikes both while riding and while parked makes these things worse. For rental I see bicycles as a much better option. Here in Germany e-scooters have to follow the same road rules as bicycles, meaning the go either on the road or a bike lane. However these may not always be usable with a scooter due to cobblestone or bumps that either don't matter to cyclists or are even supposed to slow them down.
@acesoyster4705
2 жыл бұрын
I was shocked at how expensive those schemes were. The scheme I tried in the UK cost about half of that for monthly passes, and single-journeys work out cheaper than busses up to around the 20 minute mark. They’re so popular now that on sunny weekends there’s practically no chance of finding a scooter available for use (which has made irresponsible parking significantly worse, especially in areas with narrow pavements)
@davidwavrock2418
3 жыл бұрын
My experience with these scooters is that you can't use them everywhere you need to, they're expensive and they shut off after a certain time of night, which in Ottawa means they're shutting off a way to get home after transit stops working and after Uber's are usually done for the night. I don't understand why it has to be scooters when you could just bring in something like the Bixi system and just improve cycling infrastructure. People tend to follow the rules better when they're on bikes (scooter riders seem pretty bad at following any of the rules), and it's more stable as you're basically sitting on a giant gyroscope.
@tylsim
3 жыл бұрын
Labor Day weekend I saw incredible Lime scooter usage on Alki Beach, a popular multi-use waterfront trail in Seattle. Must have been hundreds of families enjoying them. But downtown, on the main 2nd Ave protected bike lane corridor I see each weekday, very limited use. They’re expensive! A 30 minute trip that would be a 15 minute $2.75 bus ride costs $20. Not really addressed in this video: the gig workers that pick up, recharge, and redistribute scooters using their personal vehicle, which is labor-wise problematic and hardly efficient to say the least.
@Burt1038
3 жыл бұрын
I was in Washington DC this summer and my experience with the rental scooters sucked. I didn't have much choice as I was with a group and everyone else wanted to use the scooters whereas I wanted to rent bikes and got out-voted. 1. They are incredibly expensive to rent. I'm talking $10-$15 for about half an hour, which only nets you about 3-4 miles (the top speed on the scooters there was only 10 mph). 2. There are tons of places you can't go. Like you're going along for a ride and you're half a mile from your destination and have to get off and walk. Or you don't realize it, get to the destination, and then have to turn around and backtrack half a mile to the nearest acceptable drop off location. 3. Reliability/functionality was a constant issue. There were four of us so we would try to find areas where there were four or more scooters available (naturally). Almost every single time, at least one of the scooters had a problem. Thus you'd have three people idling in their scooters (with the meter running) while the fourth person scrambles to get theirs working or find another one. We wasted at least 15 minutes a day on this problem. 4. Downloading apps. There were five or six different rental companies, and you have to download a separate app for every single one. Not a big deal but kind of annoying especially when your phone battery is running low.
@EdwinWalkerProfile
3 жыл бұрын
I live in Bristol which has been trialling Voi e-scooters for at least a year now. They really are everywhere, often abandoned wherever they run out of battery. The trial specifies that riders must hold at least a provisional driving licence but you definitely see younger people riding them despite how expensive they are. The fact that e-scooters are allowed on the road at all is somehow really alarming to me (and I've observed a lot of scary manoeuvres), but I'm happy that they're increasing the demand for bike infrastructure.
@AL5520
2 жыл бұрын
In Tel Aviv (Israel) there are countless e-bike rentals. To deal with some of the problems, like e-scooters parking and illegal driving. For parking the city allocated special areas around the city for e-scooter parking. Any scooter not parked in the permitted area is taken by the city and the company gets a fine and they usually charge this fine from the last rider that used it. They also require that each rental e-scooter have a a special license plate issued by the city to make it easier identify and fine riders that break the lay. This does not apply to privately owned scooters. In June Lime added a new feature developed for the service in Israel that uses AI to identify the location and manner that rider left the e-scooter and alert him if it was left incorrectly or in the wrong location while offering an alternative location. Those who ignore this can be fined by the company. This feature will most likely be implemented in other places around the world in the future.
@JasonCliftJones
2 жыл бұрын
7:39, but also generally - eScooters (including private ones) are banned on all Transport for London public transport in the UK as there've been multiple battery fires including on a tube train at Parsons Green. (Though conscious that fire was after this vid was published)
@Undeaddeaths
2 жыл бұрын
In addition to Bicycle and Scooter parking, rethinking Motorcycle parking could have large benefits as well. Here in the US, many states do not have separate laws for parking Motorcycles/Scooters compared to cars. This means that if you have more than one motorcycle/scooter in a parking space, you could be ticketed. It's not allowed to park them lined up facing the street, even though they would take up much less space than cars, and could fit many more in the same area. Sure they might not be as green as bikes or eScooters, but even a gas motorcycle has a much smaller footprint (Both carbon and physical size) compared to a car.
@fraysbee
3 жыл бұрын
Great work, you two!
@OhTheUrbanity
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@wenzl4
Жыл бұрын
i still remember day where theese used to cost 5 cents (take in mind im eastern european so prices are lower, but so are the pays) nowdays its 29 cents minimum and at that point there is also sevice with hybrid or electric mopeds, so if you have a driver's license it is the same price for faster travel
@saveusbloodymess
3 жыл бұрын
The fact they have parking issue is still mind baffling to me. We started with rentable bikes you can only pickup and park in designated stations for seemingly no good reason, then dockless rentable bikes that didn't really catch on because we immediately got the dockless scooters, which need to be charged after every few riders, and they are relying on """freelancers""" that drive around the city, pick them up, and return them to a popular spot. Instead of all that, we could just have docking stations where it's safe to park them, that the user either only allowed to park in them or gets a discount(since they save the money spent on the "freelancer" that would pick them), and hell throw a few solar panels above each station and the scooters will end up using almost exclusively renewable energy.
@ve2jgs
3 жыл бұрын
Scooters definitely look less safe than bicycles. A seated position is much more secure in motion than a standing position . Large bicycle wheels do a much better job of cushioning bumps than the tiny scooter wheels. Speed on pedal bikes is natually restrained by the riders power. I believe most electric scooters speeds are already restrained by programming due to safety concerns - however this does not make them safe, it just reduces the danger level somewhat. Another factor is that most adults learned to cycle while they were kids, but many adults never learned how to use a scooter when they were kids, and are taking their chances while "Learning on the road".
@m.e.3862
3 жыл бұрын
Lime had a trial a couple of years ago in downtown Montreal along with a rack free bike rental company (forgot the name). They were both refused the last time I heard because they were left anywhere people ended their ride. Lime scooters were left in the middle of sidewalks even though there were designated spaces. (I personally think the riders were "raptured" in the middle of a ride😛)One of my colleagues was so pissed he kicked a scooter out of his way. I have seen metro riders with folding electric scooters but even they seem clunky and would be useless or dangerous in winter so a bike would be a better use of your cash imho.
@Catto666
3 жыл бұрын
Youd be stupid if you were biking or using a scooter during winters without propper equipment regardless
@gkid64
3 жыл бұрын
Here in South Australia we're not aloud to ride them in bike lanes they're footpath/mixed use path only vechiles which I don't mind as our laws for bikes also permit the footpath to be used if a rider feels unsafe on the road
@WheelersAtLarge
2 жыл бұрын
It'll be interesting to see how the safety figures pan out, the type of injuries and percentage compared to usage... As road users will we get used to scooters and the way they're ridden, will riding habits change? Are they tempting a significant number of people out of cars or are they only used by those that already don't drive, are they simply a profit making business that uses more of the world's power and resources? Fascinated to see how things develop for sure👍
@fernbedek6302
3 жыл бұрын
I do wonder why the scooter or bike rentals always seem to be private companies. It would make sense, in my mind, to tie them into the local transit agency and integrates fares/passes.
@OhTheUrbanity
3 жыл бұрын
We thought about the possibility of the municipality running the system, but assigning it to the transit agency and integrating fares is a particularly interesting idea.
@xexexz6372
2 жыл бұрын
escooters are great for when the destination is too far away for biking, especially if you need to make a return trip. but it's not as fast as regular scooters.
@carfreeneoliberalgeorgisty5102
3 жыл бұрын
I haven't tried e scooters but I prefer bikes to regular scooters because they're faster.
@legrandliseurtri7495
2 жыл бұрын
0:37 I've passed this bridge so many times on bike:) Ok, for real, it's pretty stressful and awful, except when there is a lot of traffic because then you get to pass by dozens of cars and that's funny. 2:25 This is actually the first time I heard of escooter, and I gotta say, 20 km/h as a max speed doesn't really seem worth it, when that's a speed you can easily reach on a bike for long distances. Although it does seem a lot less stable than bikes.
@brandonm1708
2 жыл бұрын
Even if they might not be as good as bikes, having a new mode in between pedestrian and car travel becoming a trendy thing might be a really good thing for America’s priorities for transportation
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