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The article appears to conflate mopeds/scooters/vespas. I think the e-scooters you're talking about are not really designed or perceived to be apt for commuting
by lhorie 5y ago
The article appears to conflate mopeds/scooters/vespas. I think the e-scooters you're talking about are not really designed or perceived to be apt for commuting.
Here in SF, the streets are littered with rental e-scooters, but frankly I only ever see people using them for leisure at dedicated scenic paths like in Golden Gate park, or along the pier. The problem of generalizing it to general transportation is the same as the old-age challenge w/ bike commutes: bike lanes are spotty, side walks are not always smooth/clean of debris and sharing the roads w/ cars is not safe.
And what are you going to do with your ride when you arrive at the supermarket or the library? Lots of mundane logistics issues are just not properly addressed yet.
- datameta 5y agoThe article actually lists e-scooters as being significantly more polluting than the other personal e-mobility options.
- lhorie 5y agoYes, but with a big asterisk: > The TNMT chart isn’t a scientific study and doesn’t claim to be. But their chart tracks with academic research on the total carbon impact of dockless electric scooters, those tiny little pick-up-and-go transportation options that have lately been littering (literally) many American cities. Those, it turns out, are not actually a very good approach to reducing emissions in cities; because they replace more walking and transit trips than they do automobile trips, they need constant repair and replacement, and large, gasoline-powered vehicles have to go around collecting and moving them all the time. So the estimate includes costs of vandalism and repositioning, which are moot for ownership. With that said, no amount of handwaviness is going to make the math work out in favor of e-scooters if we compare to good ol' bycicles.