Whaddya know about Bird and Skip?

[imoldernu]

Will you get involved?

Using?
Buying into?
Rejecting?
Looking for more?

What does your crystal ball say?

Or are you waiting for Spin, Jump, Razor, and Scoot?

[Souschef]

I had to look it up-just curious
https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/26/bi...ooter-permits/

[Walt34]

Not a chance. I live in West Virginia. No way do electric scooters have the range to do anything useful except in the larger cities and I doubt they'd be welcomed there.

[marko]

Nice idea, but like the drop-off bicycle idea I'm not sure it has legs. The drop-off bikes often end up being dropped off into a river or on railroad tracks.

Our niece works for a VC/incubator outfit. They're always coming across some hair-brained app-based idea that may/may not make a million bucks.

She had us evaluate an app that would tell us when to change the filter in our fridge, clean our gutters and when to check the batteries in our clocks....nonsense stuff like that and they couldn't believe that we found no value in it.

All kinds of goofiness out there of late where nobody seems to envision the downside or darker side of human nature. "It's a great idea! What could possibly go wrong" is the mindset.

[beowulf]

Useless in rural areas, extremely dangerous in urban areas. And hazardous in suburban areas where sidewalks don't go everywhere. Or you can just use them directly on roads - just make sure your will is up to date. What a great innovation Reminds me of all the useless inventions that disappear after a year or two. Portland has great public transportation - but the traffic is still horrible.

[Mmm Rrr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marko Nice idea, but like the drop-off bicycle idea I'm not sure it has legs. The drop-off bikes often end up being dropped off into a river or on railroad tracks.

I was in Seattle earlier this week. My DS's neighborhood is full of drop-off bikes and I saw a lot of people riding them. I even saw a few "hidden" behind fences in peoples' yards, I guess to guarantee that they could find one when they needed it.

I also saw several young businessmen downtown speeding down the sidewalk on what appeared to be electric unicycles.

Coming from a town with less-than-optimal public transportation, I love taking the bus in Seattle, $1 senior fare, 3 lines near DS's house that get me all over. In 2023 there will also be light rail within an easy walk.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu Will you get involved? Using? Buying into? Rejecting? Looking for more? What does your crystal ball say? Or are you waiting for Spin, Jump, Razor, and Scoot?

No thanks! I would be afraid to operate something like that because I could fall and get hurt.

Might be fun for teenagers, though!

[cathy63]

No thank you. It is illegal to abandon dockless bikes and scooters in the public right of way here, and I suspect that we're in the vanguard on that given all the trouble that other cities are having with them.

[imoldernu]

Now... whaddya REALLY know?

For an overview of how it works,how much it costs and lots more, heres a link to bring you into the new world...

Really... an unwordy complete explanation to make you smarter than the average guy. (You can explain it to your kids, and they'll be impressed.)

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/...ons/720893002/

[cynicalbuthopeful]

just got back from a conference in San Diego and the Birds were plentiful. Was told they track them via GPS and periodically relocate them. I saw a lot of people young and old using them. Looked like folks could go as fast or slow as they wanted. Seemed like it would work in many cities.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Whaddya know about Bird and Skip?

I had to look it up, as I never read about this.

For someone perhaps 20 years my senior, you keep a lot more up-to-date than I do.

[GravitySucks]

Just arrived in Columbus yesterday and they're all over the bar/restaurant area I'm staying near. There were none 2 months ago.
Looks like someone will soon have a high profile accident and regulations or insurance will end them. People riding on the double yellow line, on sidewalks, in bike lanes, etc.
Was interesting watching a beautiful 20 something girl doing trick riding in a bar parking lot at midnight though.

[Chuckanut]

My much smaller city is debating the dockless bikes at the moment. The big problems is that they offer clutter areas and walkways that others need to use. Worse, they often block the right-of-way for people who are handicapped and unable to move the bike easily. Or they block doorways. IMHO, the guys who own these companies need to figure out how to control their inventions before it turns into Frankenstein's Monster. Once they do that, fine with me.

[Amethyst]

We were in D.C. recently to see "Hamilton," and people in work outfits were spinning along the sidewalks on those tiny electric scooters that don't look big enough for a grown-up.

[Sojourner]

I'd absolutely try out these scooters, especially in a large, hilly city like San Francisco. Walking around all day in such a place can be very tiring, so having a little electric scooter to assist would be great. Rates seems pretty reasonable, too. Only $1 to start and then $3 for every 20 minutes thereafter. Cheaper and way more fun than a taxi or Uber!

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu ... Buying into? ... What does your crystal ball say? ...

Sorry, no crystal ball here but I do know that, statistically, this type of thing is highly likely to be a poor investment even if it does not fail completely.

Anecdotal of course, but fun nevertheless: Southern Californians are tossing electric scooters into ocean, burning them: report | Fox News

[Teacher Terry]

Lime bike just came here. Most people aren’t parking them on a sidewalk but some are. It’s a real issue if you are disabled.

[DFDubb]

The bikes and scooters are here in Dallas and it's a disaster. Bikes strewn about the streets, sidewalks, grass lawns, etc........The more daring tend to leave them up in trees, attach them to light poles 10 ft in the air, leave them in fountains and adorn sculptures with them. Dallas is run by people that have zero vision, now they don't know how to walk back giving these companies permits to operate. Complete disaster doesn't even begin to cover it.

I do get a kick out of seeing just how obnoxious of a place people can find to "leave" one of these bikes/scooters.

[Chuckanut]

Then there is this poor soul in China:

[imoldernu]

Looks like a scramble coming....

Tariffs?

https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/17/1...lime-uber-lyft

Quote:

The Trump administration’s latest trade penalties against China could siphon millions of dollars from Silicon Valley’s latest darling: electric scooter startups. Since most US e-scooter companies rely on vehicles manufactured in China, the most recent slew of tariffs to go into effect could slam the brakes on the budding two-wheeled revolution.