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There definitely needs to be infrastructure changes to catch up with the new technology, but as you've highlighted we've allocated valuable space to car parking
by bearcobra 7y ago
There definitely needs to be infrastructure changes to catch up with the new technology, but as you've highlighted we've allocated valuable space to car parking spots instead of bike/scooters. For dense urban areas it probably makes more sense to allocate multiple parking spots per block as "dockless" parking than it does to have it taken up by a couple of cars
- wayoutthere 7y agoAt that point though, I think it makes more sense for the city to operate them as part of a larger urban planning initiative rather than offer it as a subsidy to scooter companies. There's also no guarantee that people riding the scooters will be aware of or use dedicated dockless scooter/bike parking, hence the docks make the most sense for cities looking to optimize space usage.
- bearcobra 7y agoMunicipal options would be interesting, but I guess I feel like given how long we've subsidized private car ownership in North America it's fine if we subsidize scooter companies (or scooter owning individuals) instead. In the end they seem like a step in the right direction vs. cars.
- Pxtl 7y agoWe have an uber-based docked bike system in my city (Hamilton) and they charge a small fee for undocked parking. The vast majority of SoBi bikes are kept docked, only a handful are left undocked. That hybrid system seems to work well here. Honestly, docked "dumb" bikes were a dead-end, but smart gps-enabled bikes and e-scooters are fantastic. The problem is just that they threw out the baby with the bathwater in completely abandoning docks now that they were no longer technologically necessary. They might not be technologically necessary, but having a designated "parking spot" for these vehicles is still useful from a city-planning perspective.