Lime and Bird are growing rapidly • Hacker News Board

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#101

Post by minitoar » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:11 AM UTC

pfisch wrote: post #90

Uehreka wrote: post #27

I live in Baltimore and these things have been awesome. Over the summer and early fall, I used them a lot for trips that were between 3-15 blocks. They were usually less than half the price of a Lyft, were fun to drive, don't directly use fossil fuels and were usually available (in one app or the other) within a block or two of my house. I used them to meet friends for brunch, to pick up my car from getting worked on…

"don't directly use fossil fuels" Looks like Maryland uses a significant amount of coal to power their grid, so is this even a good thing?

Yes, burning coal to generate electricity to power an electric vehicle is better than using an ICE to power that vehicle directly. Not sure about hybrid vehicles.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#102

Post by bradlys » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:12 AM UTC

briandear wrote: post #72

taylorswift_ wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I discovered scooters recently and have rode them in three major cities during the past month. I have to say it is the most genius consumer tech product I've seen in a long time. I instantly felt a sense of "wow" after riding the first one (bird). The entire experience is so simple, so elegant (ui/ux), cheap, efficient, and most importantly FUN. I looked up bird and lime to discover they'd each received over 400M in…

I liked it so much, I bought my own for my commute. It kept me from buying a second car, and ultimately saving 25 miles of driving each day.

Holy crap. You ride on one of those standing electric scooters for at least 37 minutes each way?! (20 mph) That's a long time... I could understanding biking but not stand up scootering.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#103

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:12 AM UTC

briandear wrote: post #74

fourmii wrote: post #50

These scooters and scooter companies seem pretty divisive, especially on HN. I understand they're operating in grey areas, I guess kinda like Uber before them, but they are causing (I think) positive disruption. I personally love these scooters. I'm living in Australia now where we don't have them. But last month I took a 3 week road trip from LAX to DC and back so I could hit cities I hadn't been to before. And in m…

Helmets are important (I always wear one,) however, government ought not force people to wear them. Freedom still should matter. Grown adults should be able to make their own decisions. I support helmet laws for the under 18 crowd, but for grown adults? Too much nanny state for my liking.

[deleted]

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#104

Post by justinator » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:13 AM UTC

superfrank wrote: post #97

fourmii wrote: post #50

These scooters and scooter companies seem pretty divisive, especially on HN. I understand they're operating in grey areas, I guess kinda like Uber before them, but they are causing (I think) positive disruption. I personally love these scooters. I'm living in Australia now where we don't have them. But last month I took a 3 week road trip from LAX to DC and back so I could hit cities I hadn't been to before. And in m…

Personally, I love the scooters and bikes these companies provide and I think you make a really good point about them being a positive disruption. It's pretty clear that there is a growing demand for ways to get around other than driving yourself. Lyft and Uber are great for covering distances, but have their issues. In busy metro areas it can often be quicker to walk than it is to drive if you're only going a mile a…

Privately owning a bike is not cost prohibitive, you know.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#105

Post by scelerat » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:13 AM UTC

In West Oakland I see many people using the Ford Bikes, but yet even more people using the Lime scooters. Kids, adults, techies, non-techies.

I think they look kind of dorky, and some end up on the sidewalk and dumped in Lake Merritt. On the other hand, it appears that people are using these scooters a lot, possibly instead of driving. That seems like a positive outcome to me.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#106

Post by xenihn » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:13 AM UTC

numair wrote: post #60

I have spent a lot of time observing this phenomenon in Venice; here are some of my thoughts. What these scooters have done for SM-Venice is, they’ve gotten people to park farther away and spend less time in cars. Especially the tourists. What does that mean for locals? Well, for one, it means that the nuisance of having to drive slow past people on these things, rather than the nightmare of sitting in standstill tra…

Being in an accident involving one owned by Bird/Lime/Uber seems like a legal/insurance nightmare, whether you're a pedestrian, rider, or driver.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#107

Post by iso1337 » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:13 AM UTC

matchbok wrote: post #26

alasdair_ wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why are cars allowed to litter the public roads and park all over the place, taking up a massive amount of space with mostly empty seats and driven around less than 10% of the time? Because car owners pay extra in taxes, specifically to cover the additional costs to society.

The taxes are a drop in the bucket compared to the wasted space, pollution, and clutter.

Yup, especially when any attempt to raise gas taxes is met with hostility by the voters.

We massively subsidize drivers in this country. It's a natural consequence of people voting for their own short-term self-interests.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/05/debunking-the...

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#108

Post by gkoberger » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:13 AM UTC

Beefin wrote: post #98

DC had a scooter death a couple months ago marking among the first in the country: https://dc.curbed.com/2018/9/26/17905378/electric-scooter-de... The wheels are way too small for some of the pot holes in cities.

And about 33k people die every year in car crashes. The scale is _very_ different, but transportation is always unfortunately somewhat deadly... people are out in the real world and are moving fast.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#109

Post by cortesoft » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:13 AM UTC

L_Rahman wrote: post #87

cortesoft wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the big issue that most people have with them is the large externality of having scooters littered around the sidewalk. In a lot of places in West Los Angeles, you are having to step around them constantly if you walk down the street. People literally just drop them in the middle of the sidewalk, because there is no incentive for them to not do that. This means that everyone who doesn't use the service has to…

Functionally this is the easiest problem in the world to solve. It's the same solution for scooters and dockless bikeshare. Take two parking spots in each block. Put beacons on the corners or some kind of signaling tape around the whole thing. Only let users drop off rides inside that spot. Bonus points for having non-locking racks to help organize. People get to litter their car on the side of my road, often in the…

Right, this is all part of the process, and I am not saying it is insurmountable. When cars first came around, we had no parking laws. Now we do.

We need the parking laws for scooters.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#110

Post by Relys » Tue, Dec 04, 2018, 12:13 AM UTC

pfisch wrote: post #90

Uehreka wrote: post #27

I live in Baltimore and these things have been awesome. Over the summer and early fall, I used them a lot for trips that were between 3-15 blocks. They were usually less than half the price of a Lyft, were fun to drive, don't directly use fossil fuels and were usually available (in one app or the other) within a block or two of my house. I used them to meet friends for brunch, to pick up my car from getting worked on…

"don't directly use fossil fuels" Looks like Maryland uses a significant amount of coal to power their grid, so is this even a good thing?

Yes, because in the long term electric vehicles consolidate fossil fuel emissions to a single large point (coal in this case) which can be eventually replaced with a clean energy source (i.e. solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, etc.).