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Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
91–100 of 488 posts
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#92Full disclosure, I'm anti scooter. People drive them on the sidewalks, leave them in front of my front door, and I genuinely hope that both of these companies, specifically, fail. With that disclosure, was anyone else horrified that the lifespan of these scooters is only 3 months? Are they really removing enough vehicle trips to make these a net positive from an environmental standpoint?
> People drive them on the sidewalks
Where else would they drive them? On the road? They would just contribute to the thousands of cyclists that die or are seriously injured every year.
If you are suggesting that every electric vehicle be banned because sidewalks are for pedestrians only then I disagree. Streets are for cars only, don't let these fake bike lanes fool you.
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#93Full disclosure, I'm anti scooter. People drive them on the sidewalks, leave them in front of my front door, and I genuinely hope that both of these companies, specifically, fail. With that disclosure, was anyone else horrified that the lifespan of these scooters is only 3 months? Are they really removing enough vehicle trips to make these a net positive from an environmental standpoint?
That’s a pretty shortsighted opinion. The big problem here is that our cities are structured so that you have to move several tons of metal around to go more than a few blocks.
Being angry about a better alternative instead of the lack of infrastructure is just crotchety.
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#94I 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…
"don't directly use fossil fuels" Looks like Maryland uses a significant amount of coal to power their grid, so is this even a good thing?
It doesn't matter what's powering them, the power requirements are so much smaller than those for moving a 2-3 ton automobile that you still come out way ahead
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
I liked it so much, I bought my own for my commute. It kept me from buying a second car, and ultimately saving 25 miles of driving each day.
25 miles is a lot for a scooter
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#96These scooters and scooter companies seem pretty divisive, especially on HN. I understand they're operating in grey areas, I guess kinda like Uber before them, but they are causing (I think) positive disruption. I personally love these scooters. I'm living in Australia now where we don't have them. But last month I took a 3 week road trip from LAX to DC and back so I could hit cities I hadn't been to before. And in m…
I think the big issue that most people have with them is the large externality of having scooters littered around the sidewalk. In a lot of places in West Los Angeles, you are having to step around them constantly if you walk down the street. People literally just drop them in the middle of the sidewalk, because there is no incentive for them to not do that. This means that everyone who doesn't use the service has to…
the large externality of having scooters littered around the sidewalk.
You and I have very different definitions of "large." I'd call this "very minor."
It also depends on the comparison group. I mean, look at these astounding photos of mammoth, abandoned dockless vehicles: https://slate.com/business/2018/04/astounding-photos-capture....
Cities will, over time, reallocate a small amount of the space currently devoted to very large dockless vehicles to small dockless vehicles and thus solve the problem.
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#97These scooters and scooter companies seem pretty divisive, especially on HN. I understand they're operating in grey areas, I guess kinda like Uber before them, but they are causing (I think) positive disruption. I personally love these scooters. I'm living in Australia now where we don't have them. But last month I took a 3 week road trip from LAX to DC and back so I could hit cities I hadn't been to before. And in m…
Personally, I love the scooters and bikes these companies provide and I think you make a really good point about them being a positive disruption.
It's pretty clear that there is a growing demand for ways to get around other than driving yourself. Lyft and Uber are great for covering distances, but have their issues. In busy metro areas it can often be quicker to walk than it is to drive if you're only going a mile and traffic is bad. On the flip side, in more suburban areas the nearest Uber or Lyft can often be 10+ minutes away.
These bikes and scooters fill that "too long to walk, too short to Lyft" gap perfectly as well as being a great for getting from a public transit stop to a destination.
I don't think they have all the kinks worked out yet. I often see them left in stupid places and there are safety issues for sure, but I really do think they are a step in the right direction.
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#98DC had a scooter death a couple months ago marking among the first in the country: https://dc.curbed.com/2018/9/26/17905378/electric-scooter-de...
The wheels are way too small for some of the pot holes in cities.
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#99Remind me again why they are allowed to litter all the public sidewalks and street corners with their scooters? Regulation hasn't caught up yet?
They covered my city with them recently and I'm yet to see anyone use them for actual transportation. I tried Bird out over the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents for fun. The app was a bit complicated but overall were pretty fun. Riding the scooter felt a bit dangerous and I wouldn't be able to bring anything back from a store on a scooter, so I'm not sure when I would use one. Also you can't ride them at night, s…
Why can't you use a backpack to do grocery shopping?
Scooters have markedly improved life around where I live. Fewer noisy cars and less emissions.
Is the night riding banned by the app? I though they had lights built into them?
Re: Lime and Bird are growing rapidly
#100I 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…
"don't directly use fossil fuels" Looks like Maryland uses a significant amount of coal to power their grid, so is this even a good thing?
Easier to replace the energy powering the grid than to, say, power a vehicle directly with non-fossil fuel sources. It may still be using fossil fuels due to what is powering the grid, but that can be changed out over time; when using a gasoline powered car, you can't, until you replace the car.
It's why electric cars are viewed as being friendly; the grid they're plugged into may still be fossil fuels, but that can change at any time. A gasoline powered car won't change its reliance on fossil fuels until you replace it.