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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

• mikepurvis 8y ago
  "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
  • m4x 8y ago
    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.
    • mikepurvis 8y ago
      Sure, but look at your typical freeway rush hour traffic jam— how many of those vehicles really have multiple people or heavy cargo? The point is that for short commutes and as a last mile solution to extend the coverage of public transit, scooters are amazing. And a rental system means they can stay downtown instead of needing to take up space both ways on the mass transit vehicle.
      • m4x 8y ago
        > Sure, but look at your typical freeway rush hour traffic jam - how many of those vehicles really have multiple people or heavy cargo? I'm not sure how that's relevant. You edited my comment to try and make it apply to cars, but it does not - cars are necessary both in the CBD and out for instances where you need to transport cargo etc, while scooters are less necessary in the CBD if you can use good public transport instead. The fact that many people use cars when they aren't necessary is not relevant, other than to note that there's a lot of potential to reduce traffic by replacing single-occupant cars with personal transport. And I'm not claiming that scooters or scooter rentals are bad - I love my scooter and see scooter rental companies as a big part of reducing the number of cars on the road. But why do they insist on deploying in areas where scooters are not wanted? Why not focus on the areas where they are most practical?
        • achompas 8y ago
          > But why do they insist on deploying in areas where scooters are not wanted? Why not focus on the areas where they are most practical? Because the most population-dense areas (NYC, SF) also happen to have the highest density of VC investment money. I agree with you all the way up until here! I live in Miami, where single-passenger cars are king. Scooters would be great here. But the cities that would benefit most from scooters are not exactly overflowing with investment money.
    • megaremote 8y ago
      Except you don't. You use them every single time you need to get somewhere, no matter how far or how many people.
      • m4x 8y ago
        Sure - because cars have been most peoples only practical mode of transport for decades and it has become their default. Now that scooters and ebikes are offering a very practical alternative to driving, cars no longer need to be the default choice when travelling and we can expect their use to decline.
    • tommoor 8y ago
      Which American city are you living in where public transport is so excellent?
• dublidu 8y ago
  You’ve clearly not lived in San Francisco. My 3 mile commute takes 45 minutes by bus. It’s only a 30 minute bike or scooter ride.
  • tigershark 8y ago
    I don’t think that bus can ever be defined as “good public transport” in a dense metropolitan area. Trains or light rails are probably what gp was speaking about.
    • prewett 8y ago
      I found the buses in Beijing to be "good public transport" as long as a) you could do the entire journey on one bus, or one transfer where a lot of buses could be used to get to your destination, b) the beginning stop was close to your location and the ending stop was close to your destination, and c) both stops were served by multiple lines. Given that buses in Beijing are spaced an average of about 10 min apart, C means that you didn't have to wait long for the bus. The subway travels faster, but you typically have to walk ten minutes on either end, so the bus will win. I frequently used the bus on routes that satisfied all conditions. The down side is that you need to be familiar with Chinese characters, and do a lot of clicking and zooming in and out at ditu.google.cn beforehand.
    • dzhiurgis 8y ago
      Rapid Bus systems work very well when heading towards suburbs.
• nrb 8y ago
  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.
  • phil248 8y ago
    I find it preposterous than any cyclist would want to share their very limited bike lanes with random people on rented scooters.
    • vkou 8y ago
      I find it preposterous when pedestrians expect bicycles and scooters to expose themselves to life-threatening dangers, by sharing a roadway with two-tonne motorized vehicles.
      • ghaff 8y ago
        Then you should probably just walk.
      • Hippocrates 8y ago
        You are 100% right. As a biker I would prefer to be on the sidewalk. It's safer and less scary. As a pedestrian, I prefer bikers stay off the sidewalk. It's safer and less scary. But when you consider the big picture, I think it's obvious that cars kill cyclists and pedestrians in the street much, MUCH more often that bikes kill pedestrians on the sidewalk.
    • troutwine 8y ago
      Hi, regular cyclist in both San Francisco and the East Bay. Rented scooters are slow and erratic and a touch annoying to me. But, I'd rather share the road with a scooter than a car any day. Do scooters remove cars from the road, especially for short trips? I dunno, but I'd be willing to bet they do. Worth it. More scooters, please.
• briandear 8y ago
  Wait 20 minutes for a bus. Or take a scooter 20 blocks instead. How do I take the bus from Chinatown to Fisherman’s Wharf? By the time I figured that out, I’d be halfway there. Scooters represent speed and mobility. Buses represent crowds and waiting. Besides scooters are actually fun. A bus is an exercise in patience and time-wasting. If China followed your advice, Shanghai would be a continuous line of buses covering every square inch of road. Those that hate scooters have never used one.
• on_and_off 8y ago
  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.