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Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

france24.com

241–250 of 571 posts

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#241
post #47

I would like to provide a contrasting viewpoint. I can’t speak to the situation in Paris, but in the city I live in, scooters are amazing. They reduce car usage which is better for both pedestrians and car users. They turn a 45 minute walk/30 minute bus ride/20 minute cab into a 10-15 minute trip, which opens up much more of the city (the city I live in was not built for the number of cars it has in it so getting any…

The real problem with scooters is cuties unwilling to provide them with proper infrastructure. Bike lanes in most cities (out of the better European cycling cities), tend to be narrow and about 1/4 - 1/3 the size of a car lane. If a city were to dedicate a single car lane sized lane for “micromobility” and responded quickly to damage to this lane (which wouldn’t be as frequent for the obvious reason that damage is pr…

> If a city were to dedicate a single car lane sized lane for “micromobility”

Most cities do not have a car lane sized lane to spare.

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And why exactly shouldn’t people that live there have a democratic vote and have a say?

Those 12 year who suddenly got mobility and then suddenly lost it had no say. These paws are voted on exclusively by the elderly for complex reasons.

Buses, metro, cycling and walking still work for 12 year olds.

Assuming they were paying (which often they weren't) these alternatives are all cheaper.

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#243
post #9

London meanwhile, continues to ban personally owned e-scooters - allowing only rental e-scooters!

Now ban them and their bike scheme counterparts in London. An absolute blight on the city. Their USP is they can be left anywhere. https://i.imgur.com/s59Bvf3.png

The lime bikes are wonderful. I’ll fight you and anyone else who tries to take them away again.

You pic shows them towards a corner kerb with space behind.

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#244
I'm of two minds regarding e-scooters: on one hand they are undeniably practical and I use them a lot, on the other hand many users obviously have zero experience using them or similar vehicles, so put themselves and others into dangerous situations, and many of them are parked on sidewalks so they are annoyingly in the way.

But, besides all that, I think this is a "First they came for the e-scooters" situation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...). Most people don't care about e-scooters because they don't use them. I wonder how a vote to ban bicycles woult turn out - most people don't ride bicycles either?

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#245
It's a shame they are being banned in many places, because they are such a great idea. It's the equivalent to a taxi, but a small fraction of the price. It's such a great utility to be able to pick one up and go directly to your destination. All the advantages of having a bike, but without most of the downsides.

People just needed to be somewhat polite and disciplined - too many ride fast on sidewalks, leave them in bad places, etc.

As often happens, something nice is ruined by a small fraction of people.

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#247
post #194

I visited Paris last year and had a very cute midnight scooter ride with my girlfriend down the Seine. It was like out of a movie. But the ride costed like $17 each, it would have been cheaper to just get an Uber directly back to our hotel. And I no doubt caused some french drivers/pedestrians some grief because I had no idea where I was going most of the time. So frankly I get it. But this makes me ask the question:…

> But this makes me ask the question: who uses these? Looking at my own behavior I never touch them in the city I live in. They would be far too expensive to rely on for commuting or predictable use.

Shared e-bike/e-scooter are the most convenient solution to the last mile (there's very little alternative, actually).

The last mile problem is very concrete, especially if it's a routine two-way trip; without e-transport, it's 30/40 minutes total for each trip (on foot or bus, the latter also being nondeterministic), versus 10 minutes of ebike/escooter (quite deterministic). It's a lot of time saved.

Time-wise, Uber sits midway between bus and e-transport (there's waiting time, depending on the location), but it's considerably more expensive - in my city, e-transport costs around 0.25$ per minute, which is convenient.

Having said that, I do support either very strict regulation or straigh-out ban of e-scooters. It seems to be a teenage thing (adults hardly use them), and it's typically used very recklessly. Additionally, I prefer shared e-bikes anyway, because they're faster and more comfortable on poorly paved roads.

Without any form of e-transport, the only alternative is to bring one's own bike/e-scooter on public transport, which is possible in some cities (where the metro is large and not busy), but not so practical and limited to metro and tram.

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#248
post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that's a whole other debate (and I disagree), but even if you're right, getting rid of cars would be a gradual, multi-decade project. It's just not possible to get around modern American cities without cars. You can't just abandon the city. These cities represent trillions of dollars of investment. Otoh, you could ban e-scooters tomorrow and after dramatically improving various urban areas, the biggest effect woul…

> Otoh, you could ban e-scooters tomorrow and after dramatically improving various urban areas, the biggest effect would be a few scooter companies going bankrupt. There are probably already people who depend on them to get to work - and those people are probably far more marginalised and vulnerable than car drivers.

At the prices these scooter sharing companies are asking these days, I'd hardly call the people dependent on them "marginalised"...

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#249

It's a shame they are being banned in many places, because they are such a great idea. It's the equivalent to a taxi, but a small fraction of the price. It's such a great utility to be able to pick one up and go directly to your destination. All the advantages of having a bike, but without most of the downsides. People just needed to be somewhat polite and disciplined - too many ride fast on sidewalks, leave them in…

What exactly are the downsides of owning a bike that you don't have owning a e-scooter?

Re: Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters

#250

With 7.45% turnout, it's more of an elderly's bad joke. Elderly and wealthy people who have been brainwashed by television and want to continue using their murderous and polluting cars and taxis. Other people are more concerns by ecological problems and the rise in the pension age.

I'd vote for e scooters if most people didn't behave like toddlers

Not a day goes by without me having to remove 1-3 e scooters from my building sidewalk, which isn't even a public street, otherwise eldrely people or people with strollers can't pass through anymore

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