Uber Will Rent Scooters Through Its App in Partnership with Lime • Hacker News Board

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

#61

Post by jonlucc » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:17 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #60

probe wrote: post #15

This partnership could also allow Uber driver partners to basically have another source of income - rebalancing the scooter/bike network and helping with charging (ex. someone drives for Uber Eats, drops off a scooter at pickup restaurant to charge). Current Lime freelance chargers are making ~$1400 earnings per month[1] so this could start being substantial and help the growth for both companies [1] https://www.axio…

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.

They were active in at least one Midwest city (Indianapolis) until last week, so $880 might not be a full-time job there, but would be a very nice supplementary income.

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

#62

Post by cheeze » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:18 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #60

probe wrote: post #15

This partnership could also allow Uber driver partners to basically have another source of income - rebalancing the scooter/bike network and helping with charging (ex. someone drives for Uber Eats, drops off a scooter at pickup restaurant to charge). Current Lime freelance chargers are making ~$1400 earnings per month[1] so this could start being substantial and help the growth for both companies [1] https://www.axio…

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.

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

#63

Post by ThomPete » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:21 PM UTC

ageitgey wrote: post #14

ThomPete wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We will see. Been "workating" with my family in LA for a few weeks and we ended up using Bird much more especially because it looks like Lime require you to pay in bundles (10usd) and there are just way more Birds available than Limes. It might change now that Uber is involved but they would have to increase their scooters fleet quite a lot I think. Been interesting because in New York Bird isn't something people tal…

Where I live (San Diego), Lime and Bird have swapped places a couple of times for who has the most scooters on the street. They are both being really aggressive in increasing the number of units. It's not uncommon to see 10 of each lined up on a sidewalk. It's also been fun to watch both companies experiment and revise their hardware. The original Lime scooters were slow and the Bird scooters were much stronger. With…

Agressive is the right word I think Bird has the former Uber head of growth.

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

#64

Post by ceejayoz » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:24 PM UTC

adrianN wrote: post #56

ceejayoz wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a silly argument. They have to be connected to the streets, unless you want to limit parking to off-road 4WD vehicles. They're adjacent to the street.

Look at how Tokyo does it. Almost no parking along streets.

Japan has a vastly different approach to public transit versus the US.

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

#65

Post by cesis » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:26 PM UTC

ProAm wrote: post #11

It sort of looks like litter when I see all the bikes and scooters just left on sidewalks all over town.

I don't quite get the scooter renting. I own one. I put it under the desk in office and carry it into my flat. This is even better than bicycle which I would have to 'dump' on the street.

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

#66

Post by Analemma_ » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:34 PM UTC

paulpauper wrote: post #43

I think it's time for someone to invent Uber Walk: someone physically picks you up and carries you to your destination

You can hail hand-pulled rickshaws in a couple cities in India, which seems pretty close to this. There might even be an app for it.

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

#67

Post by LyndsySimon » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:42 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #41

edaemon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars are at least parked in designated spots/areas. Dockless bikes and scooters don't have a designated space to park in; they have to be left on the sidewalk, and they can be dropped anywhere.

This is such a boondoggle. I rarely see any birds, lime bikes, orange bikes, ofos, etc. parked in places other than off to the side of the sidewalk, or in a bike rack. When I do, I move them. Most people, generally speaking, are good people. They put bikes where they're supposed to be, they put scooters where they're supposed to be etc. It isn't just enlightened tech commenters who know that a bike should go in a bik…

This hasn't been my experience at all when walking around Santa Monica. It seems like about half the time Birds are parked in a reasonable place - in an alcove designed for bike parking, on the edge of the sidewalk on the Promenade, off to the side next to a door - and the rest are just... random. It's not at all uncommon to see three or four Birds parked in the middle of the sidewalk in front of a popular store or restaurant.

The last time I was over there, it seemed like someone was going around and purposefully knocking them over: https://scontent-dfw5-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/1cd4296b10424b53...

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

#68

Post by SilasX » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:43 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #41

edaemon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars are at least parked in designated spots/areas. Dockless bikes and scooters don't have a designated space to park in; they have to be left on the sidewalk, and they can be dropped anywhere.

This is such a boondoggle. I rarely see any birds, lime bikes, orange bikes, ofos, etc. parked in places other than off to the side of the sidewalk, or in a bike rack. When I do, I move them. Most people, generally speaking, are good people. They put bikes where they're supposed to be, they put scooters where they're supposed to be etc. It isn't just enlightened tech commenters who know that a bike should go in a bik…

I'm surprised they don't have a technical solution -- like, say, have it take a photo from the scooter when you log out to validate you put it in a good spot. (Or gps if they have drop-off points, etc.)

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

#69

Post by LyndsySimon » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:44 PM UTC

xur17 wrote: post #26

edaemon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars are at least parked in designated spots/areas. Dockless bikes and scooters don't have a designated space to park in; they have to be left on the sidewalk, and they can be dropped anywhere.

It wouldn't be too difficult for cities to create designated 'parking spots' for scooters. Or require that they must be next to a bike rack. The apps all require you to take a picture of the scooter after parking, so it would be pretty easy to verify if someone moved it after the fact.

This seems like over-solving the problem, to me. All that's needed is a general guideline: 'Scooters should be parked on the side of the sidewalk nearest the road, no more than 12" from the curb'.

Given that photos of the scooter are required by the apps anyhow, enforcement via a small fine should be trivial.

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

#70

Post by sisk » Mon, Jul 09, 2018, 7:48 PM UTC

rockostrich wrote: post #59

tingletech wrote: post #38

These scooters are a menace in Oakland -- people are riding them down crowded sidewalks at 20 MPH

I don't know about Oakland, but in Boston these wouldn't be legal to ride on the sidewalk. Hell, they're barely legal to ride in the bike lane (only motorized vehicles that can't exceed 35 mph and that make a motor smaller than a certain size). Combine that with the fact that most riders won't be wearing helmets and it's a potentially deadly accident waiting to happen.

For the curious, the maximum motor size to ride in the bike lanes in Boston is 50cc.