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Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

nytimes.com

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Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#231

Post by hamandcheese »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #51
floatrock wrote: post #29

What you're seeing is car companies trying to transition to "mobility" companies -- the difference being the former is a manufacturing company with 3% margins and the latter being a services company with much fatter margins. Autonomous car fleets are the main "mobility services" prize of course -- all the major OEMs have autonomous research labs -- but you're seeing more interest in scooters and bikes (there was a he…

No, I don't think this is a transition. What we're likely seeing is M&A people caught up in the hype and trends. In some ways, it's worth spending some amount as a hedge against something happening, but I don't believe these scooters will represent any meaningful change ... personally I think they are kind of a fad. The logistics, cost, narrow use cases of all of it just don't work out well enough. Truly - what % of…

> if it was useful for commuting, why wouldn't people just end up buying one so they always have it when needed?

I own a bicycle, but I don’t always have it when needed.

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#232

Post by Cristian_knur »

Balgair wrote: post #198
dangwu wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legally. And the app makes you take a screenshot of your license

I've not tried it, but how easy is it to fake the ID? Like, does the photo feed to a person that OKs the ID manually, or does it just look for some vaguely rectangulary shaped object?

It scans the barcode and makes sure the id is valid. If it can't determine that it will ask people to take a picture of the id, which then gets manually reviewed by a human.

Disclosure: I work for one of the big scooter companies.

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#234

Post by phil248 »

nrb wrote: post #216
m4x wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scooters seem unnecessary in densely populated cities. Most high-density areas have good public transport within a few minutes walk of your destination, and the footpaths are too busy to ride a scooter on anyway. They are much more useful in medium-density cities and suburbs where the roads and footpaths are less busy and public transport is not as effective. I love using my scooter for commuting and errands in my lo…

High-density areas typically have bike lanes for scooters to use. The problem of getting ~3 miles in a city like SF (SoMa to Mission) involves a 10 min walk to a train, and several more minutes walking once you get off the train, or walking to a bus stop and waiting 10+ mins there, with another walk to your destination. 10-15 minute car or scooter trips easily become 45+ min public transport trips.

I find it preposterous than any cyclist would want to share their very limited bike lanes with random people on rented scooters.

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#235

Post by edaemon »

quantum_magpie wrote: post #229
edaemon wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bike lanes aren't great, nor are they a separate space -- they're in the street.

Not proper ones. Real bike lanes in bike-able cities have a small curb separating them from the street and then another one to separate from the sidewalk.

Agreed, and those are essentially what I'm advocating for, but the vast majority of bike lanes aren't like that. I live in Portland, the most bike-friendly city in the US, and we have very few of them.

I would also say they aren't really bike "lanes" -- they're not a lane in the street. The Dutch call them "cycle tracks" which seems more fitting.

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#236

Post by ghaff »

olyjohn wrote: post #178
danielrhodes wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love these scooters -- but one thing I have found is they feel too fast for the sidewalk and too slow for the street.

Um. Can't you just ride slower on the sidewalk? Or are they the kinda that have an on/off switch for a throttle?

The problem is that pretty much the whole point is to go faster than walking speed. If you can't, what's the point?

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#237

Post by vkou »

phil248 wrote: post #234
nrb wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High-density areas typically have bike lanes for scooters to use. The problem of getting ~3 miles in a city like SF (SoMa to Mission) involves a 10 min walk to a train, and several more minutes walking once you get off the train, or walking to a bus stop and waiting 10+ mins there, with another walk to your destination. 10-15 minute car or scooter trips easily become 45+ min public transport trips.

I find it preposterous than any cyclist would want to share their very limited bike lanes with random people on rented scooters.

I find it preposterous when pedestrians expect bicycles and scooters to expose themselves to life-threatening dangers, by sharing a roadway with two-tonne motorized vehicles.

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#238

Post by troutwine »

phil248 wrote: post #234
nrb wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High-density areas typically have bike lanes for scooters to use. The problem of getting ~3 miles in a city like SF (SoMa to Mission) involves a 10 min walk to a train, and several more minutes walking once you get off the train, or walking to a bus stop and waiting 10+ mins there, with another walk to your destination. 10-15 minute car or scooter trips easily become 45+ min public transport trips.

I find it preposterous than any cyclist would want to share their very limited bike lanes with random people on rented scooters.

Hi, regular cyclist in both San Francisco and the East Bay. Rented scooters are slow and erratic and a touch annoying to me. But, I'd rather share the road with a scooter than a car any day. Do scooters remove cars from the road, especially for short trips? I dunno, but I'd be willing to bet they do.

Worth it. More scooters, please.

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#239

Post by s0rce »

phil248 wrote: post #234
nrb wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High-density areas typically have bike lanes for scooters to use. The problem of getting ~3 miles in a city like SF (SoMa to Mission) involves a 10 min walk to a train, and several more minutes walking once you get off the train, or walking to a bus stop and waiting 10+ mins there, with another walk to your destination. 10-15 minute car or scooter trips easily become 45+ min public transport trips.

I find it preposterous than any cyclist would want to share their very limited bike lanes with random people on rented scooters.

I bike to work everyday in the east bay and have no issues sharing what little infrastructure bikes have with scooters. I can easily pass them in most instances and if not they are no slower than a slow cyclist. So far 0 issues except when they go the wrong way but cyclists are also guilty of this. Compared to cars which have clipped me a couple times and routinely park in the bike lanes.

Re: Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

#240

Post by s0rce »

ncr100 wrote: post #190
thanatos_dem wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand your frustration, but that’s a remarkably similar response that people had to automobiles first being introduced. Not to imply you’re a Luddite clinging to your horse drawn carriages or anything. Just that these concerns aren’t new. The unfortunate reality is that nothing has solved the last mile problem for public transportation as well as these scooters have. Say you want to go to the store two miles a…

There are streets for cars. Scooters are often driven on sidewalks, illegally. There is no viable enforcement options - cops do not have the easy means to stop scooters going arbitrary directions - and there are no license plates for scooters, yet.

Scooters should absolutely not need registration, nor should bikes for that matter. Streets are for all modes of transportation not just cars.
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