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Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

futureengine.org

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Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#211

Post by baroffoos »

christophclarke wrote: post #195
baroffoos wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also coal powerplants run much more efficiently than a car engine.

Internal combustion engines operate at about 25% efficiency (per this paper, page 54) https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/5764... Coal power plants operate in the range of 34% efficiency https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=107&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_08_02.html

Also they tend to be run very far away so you aren't getting a blast of pollution to the face every time you go outside

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#212

Post by Rebelgecko »

christophclarke wrote: post #195
baroffoos wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also coal powerplants run much more efficiently than a car engine.

Internal combustion engines operate at about 25% efficiency (per this paper, page 54) https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/5764... Coal power plants operate in the range of 34% efficiency https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=107&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/annual/html/epa_08_02.html

I wonder how much of that gets offset by transmission loss and the scooter's charging/discharging inefficiencies?

Not that that would be a reason not to use scooters in and off itself, since they're be posed to take advantage of grids that will hopefully become more and more renewable over time

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#213

Post by antcas »

walshemj wrote: post #186
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…

How far is a block on average for us non USA types?

It's different in every city, but in Baltimore they're probably in between the size of Portland, OR city blocks and New York City, NY city blocks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lisZBL3_aW8

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#214

Post by bsder »

Reedx wrote: post #162
bradlys wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One reason people might disagree is that you're pushing the externality of your own safety onto others. An example of an externality: those who don't wear helmets and crash are much more likely to have a brain injury (or death). This means that we all have to pay for your care now. In death (lack of taxes) or in financial damage. And in some cases like safety standards, people will also argue for emotional safety as…

Right, but isn't that also the case for people in cars? They get head injuries in car crashes that may have been prevented by wearing a helmet. As for helmet laws, they have unintended consequences, such as fewer people riding bikes. Resulting in more cars/pollution and less exercise, less healthy population.

> Right, but isn't that also the case for people in cars? They get head injuries in car crashes that may have been prevented by wearing a helmet.

A car driver has insurance to some level--a bicyclist or scooter user probably doesn't.

The issue is that in the US, we don't have universal healthcare which would make this discussion moot.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#215

Post by Uehreka »

walshemj wrote: post #186
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…

How far is a block on average for us non USA types?

I’ll admit it’s a bad unit of measurement given that Baltimore has weirdly shaped and non-standardized blocks. Looking at my Lime history, my rides seem to fall in the 0.5-2.5 mile range (0.8-4 km)

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#216

Post by nabla9 »

taylorswift_ wrote: post #52
smallgovt wrote: post #14

My guess is that Lime and Bird's latest investors don't actually believe in these insane valuations. Instead, they see these companies as a safe place to park their money due to the limited downside provided by liquid preference terms.

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…

> This is a disruptive technology that's going to see major adoption in every city across the entire planet.

Disruptive pioneer is not necessarily good investment even if the base idea is solid.

In the Dot-com bubble (1995-2000) many companies with good ideas eventually failed. There were several online book retailers, web search companies and online shopping sites, even online food delivery services. They were highly valued, but most of them went bankrupt. Amazon two Google survived (It took over decade for Amazon's stock valuation to recover).

We have now transportation boom. When the boom goes bust and regression hits, most run out of money and go bankrupt.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#217

Post by buzzy_hacker »

I really liked riding them until I realized how expensive they were. When you use them everyday, it adds up quick. Hundreds of dollars a month. I now bike everywhere instead and wonder why others don't.

I could see using them when traveling, where I wouldn't have my bike with me.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#218

Post by rocketpastsix »

It's funny to see this just after in Nashville a Bird user ran a red light and got hit by a car. Now I know this user is not indicitive of all users, but it's enough to galvinize the people against them.

I say this as someone who loves them. I hope they stick around, but its only a matter of time someone in a party city like Nashville is drunk and ends up getting hit leading to a death.

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#219

Post by Rebelgecko »

tjr225 wrote: post #197

I am a frequent user of lime bikes. I think they have a few drawbacks that make them difficult to use all the time however. Mostly: 1. Consistently Well Working Bikes can be hard to find 2. I often use these to get from the residential part of Seattle to the urban parts for date night... it can be very difficult to find two of these near each other. 3. They really need some sort of limited reservation system. This wo…

Bird is actually rolling out reservations, although I think it's more intended for daily users (they say they'll drop a scooter off on your doorstep every morning and only you can unlock it).

Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly

#220

Post by xur17 »

chuckgreenman wrote: post #155

The problem with these scooters is that they are great as a user, but terrible for everyone else. They are a lot of fun to ride, but if you're just a regular old pedestrian they are a nightmare, people park them in the streets and pass by you way to quickly and closely on the sidewalk. But riding them in the street pisses off drivers and is pretty dangerous, at least that's how it shakes out in Cincinnati.

> But riding them in the street pisses off drivers and is pretty dangerous, at least that's how it shakes out in Cincinnati.

The answer to this is better bicycle infrastructure, and I'm hopeful that scooter popularity helps accelerate this.

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