Ford Buying San Francisco-Area E-Scooter Startup Spin

Post by briandear » Thu, Nov 08, 2018, 11:55 PM UTC

m4x wrote: post #200

splurge100 wrote: post #92

All of the commenters saying e-scooters shouldn't be allowed on sidewalks are right. Sidewalks in most densely populated US cities are too narrow and busy to safely allow a human gliding along at 15 mph within ~2 ft of a doorway where another human may be exiting, or past blind corners. The bigger issue is that e-scooter parking is fundamentally broken right now. Despite being told not to, users still park them in th…

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…

Post by briandear » Thu, Nov 08, 2018, 11:59 PM UTC

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.

Post by joejerryronnie » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 12:06 AM UTC

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…

Post by briandear » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 12:10 AM UTC

8ytecoder wrote: post #99

danans wrote: post #2

These e-scooters could be a really great way for many cities to decrease short-haul car dependency, but they really need to be off the sidewalks. A motor-propelled machine going 15 mph doesn't belong on the same surface as a baby stroller, a senior citizen, or a person with a disability. They belong in the bike lane (which should exist in the first place), and their speed should be capped in areas of dense foot traff…

They are parked so haphazardly as well. Years long fight for the physically changed to have any mobility is being undone by these scooters blocking the sidewalks. I can walk around them but what will a person in a wheelchair do? The feature that makes them the most convenient and why people use this over bikesharing is the fact that they can be dropped of anywhere and that's exactly what the major problem with it as…

Post by timboslice » Fri, Nov 09, 2018, 12:25 AM UTC

androidgirl wrote: post #184

Are any of these electric scooters worthwhile for hilly commutes? I live about a mile from the closest train stop, and currently I walk to and from because the entire way is steep coming back, at 10% grade. My gut tells me a scooter would need to be unreasonably powerful to work in this area.