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Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

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Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#141

Post by briandear »

bit_logic wrote: post #103

I was thinking about the debate on scooters and it made me realize something: Bike lanes are a disaster, probably one of the biggest mistakes in road design and planning. The basic idea was sound, but it was done the wrong way. Everywhere you see a bike lane, that should've been the concrete sidewalk extended into that area with a painted stripe separating pedestrians and bicycles. Go to a beach and you can see the c…

Check out the way China does it— bike and scooter lanes completely separated from traffic.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#142

Post by jdavis703 »

cncrnd wrote: post #139
bit_logic wrote: post #103

I was thinking about the debate on scooters and it made me realize something: Bike lanes are a disaster, probably one of the biggest mistakes in road design and planning. The basic idea was sound, but it was done the wrong way. Everywhere you see a bike lane, that should've been the concrete sidewalk extended into that area with a painted stripe separating pedestrians and bicycles. Go to a beach and you can see the c…

Yeah, I don't understand how cyclists can put so much trust in every single car that drives by them. All it takes is one distracted driver and you get serious injury or worse.

We don't trust them. And negligent drivers are among the easiest to deal with. They're usually swerving, texting, slow to accelerate from lights or parked haphazardly. Most of the time you can give them space when you spot the signs. The scariest ones are the drivers who do close passes, cut you off to turn or scream out threats or profanities.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#143

Post by prawn »

woolvalley wrote: post #50
znull wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the bikes and scooters? Not, say, the idle cars left on streets all over town?

And the mailboxes, and the newspaper boxes, benches, all of those parking meters, and trees. Yes, trees get in the way too don't ya know.

Surprises me that the newspaper boxes are still there. As a visitor to the US, they stand out and look so unsightly. Do the companies pay a fee for them to be there?

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#144

Post by windows_tips »

Finnucane wrote: post #19
windows_tips wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is typical that a market will produce a solution before a government, isn't it?

Yes, but only for people who can afford it.

There are often programs to make market goods available to those who may not be able to.

Fresh produce, for example. I haven't seen any governments producing the oldest and most critical good.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#145

Post by toomanybeersies »

megy wrote: post #138
toomanybeersies wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Melbourne, our dockless bike provider, oBike, had to pull out because the council threatened them with fines for littering. People just couldn't help throwing the bikes on train tracks, or in the river, or in trees, or basically anywhere that wasn't a bike rack. I don't think I ever saw an oBike in a bike rack.

This is not true. They came to an arrangements with the Melbourne city council, and hired people to go around and tidy it up. They pulled out because too many people were dumping bikes in rivers and train tracks, and they weren't making enough money. They were reasonably popular. Melbourne is a car addicted city though, and it is difficult to get anyone here to see an alternative.

You're right, I was oversimplifying the situation. The council threatened oBike with fines, so they came to arrangements to have cleanup crews, which then cost too much money, causing them to pull out.

I wouldn't say oBikes were reasonably popular. The only people I ever saw riding them were tourists in St Kilda, and homeless people who had broken the locks off them.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#146

Post by Steltek »

bit_logic wrote: post #103

I was thinking about the debate on scooters and it made me realize something: Bike lanes are a disaster, probably one of the biggest mistakes in road design and planning. The basic idea was sound, but it was done the wrong way. Everywhere you see a bike lane, that should've been the concrete sidewalk extended into that area with a painted stripe separating pedestrians and bicycles. Go to a beach and you can see the c…

It's been tried and it's really not that easy.

- Cars will make turns that cross your protected bike path and with parking in the way, a bike's already minimal visible cross section is reduced even more.

- Bikes need to make left turns which is difficult when there are parked cars in the way.

- Pedestrians will happily walk everywhere in your bike lane (oblivious to your bell ringing due to headphones), regardless of whatever paint you delineate the two areas.

In areas with these kinds of bike lanes, I generally ride in the street with the cars. It's safer and faster.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#147

Post by Steltek »

foobar1962 wrote: post #117
jonlucc wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I'm not sure I understand how this relates. Everybody already does do this. You are allowed to drop your bike off at a bike rack or on the sidewalk out of the way of traffic if you're brave (or have more faith in your neighbors than I do).

> I guess I'm not sure I understand how this relates. Everybody already does do this. You are allowed to drop your bike off at a bike rack... Scenario: go to park your personal bike at the public bike rack only you discover it's full of bikes from some company who wants to make a buck out of it. A lot of these business models take advantage of resources that are "free" but have really cost a lot of money to set up an…

You'll probably saturate the market before you run out of parking. One car space converted to bike racks would hold 20 bikes and if bike share is truly that popular, it's an entirely viable option.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#148

Post by ewjordan »

cheeze wrote: post #62
wpietri wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That $1400/month number strikes me as dubious. They mention the charger earns $30-50/day. Assuming a standard 22-day work month, $1400 would have to be $63/day. A more realistic number seems to be $40 * 22 days, or $880/month. Which is not a lot of money in the expensive cities Lime is active in.

Man... $880 a month to drive around Seattle sounds miserable.

What else can you do in Seattle with absolutely zero skill or qualifications and no willingness to commit that pays that well?

Not a joke question. I'd have loved any fraction of $880 a month when I was in college and was otherwise worth nothing and couldn't get a traditional shitty part time job because I had unpredictable hours due to school.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#149

Post by Camillo »

xvedejas wrote: post #114
bit_logic wrote: post #103

I was thinking about the debate on scooters and it made me realize something: Bike lanes are a disaster, probably one of the biggest mistakes in road design and planning. The basic idea was sound, but it was done the wrong way. Everywhere you see a bike lane, that should've been the concrete sidewalk extended into that area with a painted stripe separating pedestrians and bicycles. Go to a beach and you can see the c…

They are planning to do this with Market Street in San Francisco. I attended an informational meeting (open to public) about this and other nearby streetscape improvements. Many of the people present were afraid bikes will be running over pedestrians, the fear fueled in part by the recent proliferation of electric scooters. I don't agree that this is the right concern, but I just want to illustrate that the idea migh…

Have there been any confirmed injuries from people being run over by scooters in San Francisco? I tried a quick search but came up empty.

Re: Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime

#150

Post by xvedejas »

Camillo wrote: post #149
xvedejas wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are planning to do this with Market Street in San Francisco. I attended an informational meeting (open to public) about this and other nearby streetscape improvements. Many of the people present were afraid bikes will be running over pedestrians, the fear fueled in part by the recent proliferation of electric scooters. I don't agree that this is the right concern, but I just want to illustrate that the idea migh…

Have there been any confirmed injuries from people being run over by scooters in San Francisco? I tried a quick search but came up empty.

If I recall correctly, the only confirmed injury from the recent influx of scooter sharing was from someone tripping over a parked scooter. But the meeting I'm referring to happened about a year ago, and the fear was mostly geared towards private electric longboards and "hoverboards", I think.
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