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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

#271

Post by sparky_ »

Sephr wrote: post #58

Am I the only one who wants to see more seated scooter innovation? I would much prefer riding one of these self-balancing scooters/microcycles to the standing scooters that everyone is using. 1. http://rynomotors.com (launches April 16, 2019) 2. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/newest-fat-tyre-elect... 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcZk9zn82-g

I think there is some aversion to building a product that is too motorcycle-like; regulators may start to get ideas if the scooters look too much like a Vespa.

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

#272

Post by on_and_off »

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…

That's true e.g. in Paris.

However I have moved to San Francisco, and 2 months afterwards I just bought an electric longboard.

Public transportation sucks in this city compared to any great european large city.

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

#273

Post by megaremote »

m4x wrote: post #210
mikepurvis wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Cars seem unnecessary in densely populated cities. Most high-density areas have good public transport within a few minutes walk of your destination, and the roads are too busy to drive a car on anyway." FTFY

Cars address a different set of requirements. You use one when you need to transport many people, heavy cargo, tools, etc. A scooter does not solve any of those problems. A scooter does allow a single person and their possessions to travel at faster than walking pace without getting sweaty. In the CBD that is not necessary, since public transport works so well. In the suburbs a scooter is more effective.

Except you don't. You use them every single time you need to get somewhere, no matter how far or how many people.

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

#274

Post by daurnimator »

sparky_ wrote: post #270
quantum_magpie wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

For Bay Area HN folks: check out what San Jose has done with the bike lanes downtown recently. Separation from traffic using a combo of parked cars and barriers.

I find that style much worse than the "on-road" style due to people crossing the bike-lake to their cars without looking. They also routinely fill up with rubbish if there is any construction going on, or any issues with garbage collection (often enough that once per trip you have to get off your bike, take it onto the road, past the obstruction, then back onto the bike lane).

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

#275

Post by groth »

These scooters aren't suppose to replace lyft or bart or muni. They're suppose to let you get from 24th mission to 16th mission with minimum context switching & waiting. This translates less well to manhattan but would (if theft weren't a problem) to Brooklyn, most 2nd tier cities in the U.S., and college campuses. I think it's a good investment.

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

#276

Post by megaremote »

danans wrote: post #8
mattigames wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree it's an issue but I propose the opposite solution, meaning side-walk devices should go at max 10 mph. Talking about such, is there any data on accidents caused by e-scooters? (percentage wise e.g. vs bikes)

> meaning side-walk devices should go at max 10 mph. 10 mph is more than enough to injure someone on collision, especially if that person is frail. Average human walking speed is 3mph. Runners average 10mph, but a running human has a lot more control over their momentum than someone in a vehicle, because they are expending their own energy to move, rather than using an external propulsion system, and they aren't on w…

> 10 mph is more than enough to injure someone on collision

Wow then, you must be really worried that 3 feet away a 2 tonne vehicle can go 40mph. And you should, they kill around 40,000 people every year.

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

#277

Post by [deleted] »

mjg59 wrote: post #180

Of the scooter companies that have launched in the Bay area, Spin were by far the least technically advanced - the scooters were basically unmodified Xiaomis, to the extent of still having power buttons. Rather than an integrated location and management system, location data came from a off-the-shelf GPS tracker spliced off the battery lines. Since the scooter control board had no cellular link, there was no mechanis…

[deleted]

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

#278

Post by phil248 »

There is simply no space in most inner cities for this mode of transportation.

Which is fine, since inner cities are the most walkable places in the world, and the most well-served by public transit.

Unless we're prepared to spend billions on new construction over decades, there is just no infrastructure for a mode of transport that conflicts with all of the existing modes.

If anything, we should be building more bike lanes (on a gargantuan scale) since they are proven, efficient and already have substantial infrastructure.

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

#279

Post by ativzzz »

mjg59 wrote: post #180

Of the scooter companies that have launched in the Bay area, Spin were by far the least technically advanced - the scooters were basically unmodified Xiaomis, to the extent of still having power buttons. Rather than an integrated location and management system, location data came from a off-the-shelf GPS tracker spliced off the battery lines. Since the scooter control board had no cellular link, there was no mechanis…

Looks like Spin used their resources on business development instead of tech and it appears their plan worked.

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

#280

Post by ehnto »

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…

Sidewalks being too narrow is an issue of prioritization. Cities have optimized for car traffic in many locations, and everyone else has to take the sliver of concrete they were graciously given next to the cars with one or two people in them each. You may think, but we can't make it wider else the cars don't fit. Absolutely. So don't let them there at all. Flank every block with a walking/slow bicycle/scooter/board plaza. City centers are for people doing things, so we should prioritize foot traffic, because if you are in a car you are merely coming to or moving through the city. You are not the primary use case of the city center. It evolved this way over time but that doesn't mean it was the right choice to let cars flow through city centers, and we can change it back.
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