Why Tech Failed to Disrupt Walking

[@ModernMBA]

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[@oliversissonphone6143]

Video: start-ups suck! Sponsored by: a start-up!

[@jamespohl-md2eq]

@@user-tm1kb3fq4mDid they not have scooters in Thailand?

[@GMDMD]

scooters never made sense, feels like it was obvious at the time. never understood why VCs were tripping over themselves to set money on fire for this stupidity

[@PowerScissor]

​@@GMDMD They are everywhere here. I see young parents, with their toddlers who can barely walk hanging on to them, both without helmets flying by at 15-20 mph all the time.

[@PhantomDogman]

"Subscriptions sucks. Btw thanks for our sponsor a subscription services!"

[@brickmastertube]

For years now I've been disrupting my walking with a bicycle and it has unlimited range as long as you keep eating.

[@Nova0Rock]

That fuel is getting more expensive as well though 😉

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

Someone at NYU did the math. "Fueling" a bicycle costs more and produces more CO2 than a G-Wiz. Obviously that doesn't cover the cost of building and buying it initially. But the point is that micro-mobility is actually a really good deal for the consumer.

[@brickmastertube]

@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 I will eat less. I will not exert myself physically. I will be happy.

[@rightwingsafetysquad9872]

@@brickmastertube I didn't say there were no other considerations.

[@mindstalk]

@@rightwingsafetysquad9872 "did the math" Dubious math, especially if you include the cost of building the car.

[@matchc0635]

The only winner here is Lin on Alibaba who sold like 50,000 scooters to these companies.

[@shroomer3867]

In a gold rush, sell shovels

[@niceichhorn9878]

Dumbass​@@shroomer3867

[@DR_1_1]

19:40 VC...

[@BobRooney290]

the lawsuits all but destroyed them. my friend was walking down the street and got hit by one going full speed. it broke his arm in several spots. he sued the one driving and he sued the scooter company. never has to work for the rest of his life after the payouts.

[@governmentghost01]

​​@@BobRooney290I'll take things that never happened for $500. But cool story bro

[@David.Marquez]

We all had a day where we woke up and all of a sudden downtown was just full of these devices.

[@tampajay1]

Ya they can be convenient, but they can also be a pain in the ass and expensive to use for anything other than a lil joyride

[@Fluffy65]

The South Park episode about these hit the nail on the head

[@kolonarulez5222]

Yes I actually had a job in a parking lot tollbooth in a medium size city. It really was an overnight flood of scooters!

[@canag0d]

⁠@@tampajay1I mean your comment is exactly the point of the video. You added nothing. Literally nothing. This is the worst comment I’ve seen in a while. “It has a positive and a negative. The same ones pointed out in the video.”

[@Sebastian_Thimm]

​@@canag0dsays the guy who added a useless bully comment. 😂 Say thanks for the summary and start thinking about your life's choices. Maybe you end up doing something useful and find out why you're trying to be mean for no reason.

[@suelkoka]

Never underestimate the damage people would do to your or public property if there is no penalty.

[@PotterytothePeople]

those scooters aren’t public property though 😅

[@suelkoka]

@@PotterytothePeople Ok, I know... Now read again my comment , slowly.

[@ABa-os6wm]

When they are sqatting public space all the time, they become public property. Exactly like parked cars.

[@rogue13131313]

Human beings are the worst....biggest destructive plague the planet has ever seen.

[@Anthonybrother]

@ABa-os6wm. Wtf, no, parking your car in public doesn't make it public property. A car is always private property.

[@gameworkerty]

My main issue is that in every city in the USA, space dedicated for pedestrians is already extremely scarce and narrow. Every single one of these companies gets to take up pedestrian space with parked scooters for free, not paying any rent for it, and they still can't make money.

[@sprinkle61]

@@valleyofiron125 Its not really the same. Cars park on curbs, out of the flow of traffic. If you park in the middle of the street, you will get towed. These scooters are left in the middle of the sidewalk all the time, or in the street, or anywhere, really. The real issue is that they are so new there is no place for them, so they end up everywhere.

[@Loanshark753]

Just create a quota system so that there are fewer of them. And if the issue is limited space while driving then a different solution needs to be implemented as well.

[@maxscott3349]

That's a population density issue

[@neonovalis]

the car has been the N1 for so many decades that almost all infrastructure is now for 'serving' cars ... the lack of sidewalks (stroads) in the USA is horrendous ... the dependency of on the car in America can not be overcame easily and not overnight.

[@snoekbaars1]

@@valleyofiron125 Cars are actually useful though

[@tjcihlar1]

Scooters compete with walking, what's the market size on walking????

[@poochyenarulez]

uhh, fairly big? The thing is walking is free. Why would I pay for a scooter when I can just walk?

[@jamiediamond420]

@@poochyenarulezalso safer

[@triton62674]

convenience ​@@poochyenarulez

[@LiveWireBT]

"Disrupt walking" sounds so stupid I would not have thought of scooters and "micro mobility" like that, but that's what they tried, and failed.

[@thelastdankbender4353]

How is riding scooters safer? They're much more likely to cause injuries than walking.

[@-caesarian-6078]

I was a student at a large US university when these (Spin) were first being launched. After a few days of hype, everyone stopped using them, as they cost too much compared to the free bus system or your childhood bicycle, and they often stockpiled in a few places, leaving most of campus empty. The annoying beeps they constantly made certainly didn’t help. After a year passed, I noticed how few scooters there were compared to launch, even though regulation hadn’t started yet. I knew they were being abused, but didn’t think they were being destroyed THAT quickly. Then a magnet fisher made the news pulling over 250 scooters out of the river that flows through campus. If that doesn’t show the failure of this business model, I don’t know what will.

[@idontknowman420]

One scooter in the river a day keeps the VCs away :)

[@sprinkle61]

We live in a vandalism society. It might be able to work somewhere else, where people respected other's property.

[@NickyBlue99]

No they are fun to break everywhere

[@arabcadabra8863]

​@@sprinkle61 As you know, respect goes both ways or it doesn't exist. Escooter companies did not respect public property. They failed to ask permission from municipalities. They even failed to protect their own property. Vandalism society? 🤣 On which stupid podcast did you hear that?

[@Rullehjem]

"outrageously affordable, convenient, environmentally friendly" Sounds a lot like a bicycle.

[@fuqupal]

Sound's like (man made) global warming scam! Greta Thunberg talk!

[@olliegoria]

I will take an escooter over a bike any day, as long as we're talking personally-owned. *_Fuck_* pedalling uphill.

[@Krigalishnikov]

​@@olliegoriasounds like you want an e bike

[@fuckyoutubehandIes]

@@Krigalishnikov No, an ebike is not something you carry up to the 3rd floor, a folding scooter is

[@chesspiece4257]

or… walking. i don’t understand why they’d make something as an alternative to walking that doesn’t work if you’re disabled too. like older people who can’t walk long distances…also can’t stand on a scooter and would have trouble balancing

[@MionMikan]

I live in Seoul, and at one point there were 9 eScooter companies operating at the same time. It was absolute insanity. Every borough of Seoul became like gang territory for one of these companies as they flooded the streets with their escooters, hoping to gain market share. I always wondered how any of them were able to be profitable, considering 1. the unit economics seemed completely faulty, and 2. The regulations were coming down fast and hard. The Seoul government overnight required riders to bring their own helmets and have a driver's license in order to ride one of these, which if you can imagine, made it terrible inconvenient for most people to ride legally.

[@jer103]

Like he says in the video, the whole thing was a "pump and dump". To grow as fast as possible, then see what the consequences would be in the future. It was never meant to be sustainable.

[@Dirk-Digs-U]

I applaud the Korean government for their quick action. Why? it costs every Korean citizen more money to pay for the injuries the unexperienced riders sustain and those who are just incapable of riding a scooter and causing havoc on the streets. Not everyone has good balance and good sense of how to behave when riding a scooter. I can't surf. Imagine the frustration I would cause other surfers and the injuries I would sustain.

[@fish3977]

these really should be ran by the government like many "city bike" programs already are. the oversaturation got so bad in here one company left few cities to their competitora in hopes of slowing the regulatory crack down :V

[@thatlumberjack]

I live in Seoul, too. About two months ago something happened and they were scooters everywhere and there’s more and more every day with new companies and their scooters and their bikes showing up all over the place. Does anybody know what happened in Seoul two months ago?

[@oatfarmer6501]

A drivers license for a scooter? Seoul is tripping

[@davidrbrtsn]

They're best to own, not rent. Here in Cape Town I use a Mi 3 scooter for my commute. I can fold it and put it in a shopping cart, take it up to my office in one hand to keep it safe while work, store and charge it easily at home, etc. My Miata is for mountain roads on the weekend!

[@stevo728822]

Not much use for tourists.

[@i_i8924]

I live in US where I have to travel 20 miles each way 😅

[@saiv46]

Due to extremely bad condition of roads, I bought Max G2. I've rented ones and they don't have back suspension, which is VERY uncomfortable to ride.

[@davidrbrtsn]

@@stevo728822 Tourists are welcome to walk or use Uber/Bolt. In some spots like the Sea Point beachfront tourists can rent scooters, too (off the streets where our infamous 'taxis' would be a genuine threat).

[@paulmaartin]

​@@i_i8924e scooters able to do this exist but they are as expensive as a gas scooter and not a crappy 50cc.

[@adampagano5361]

I watched scooters come and go in NYC. It was clear they were trying to emulate Uber and Lyft: jump into legal gray area, capture as much market share as possible, and bargain with the legislators and regulators afterwards. This time, the city was ready and moved against them straight away with the dept of sanitation treating them as garbage.

[@Anthonybrother]

Lmao, the disrespect. the city hall wankers wouldn't like it if their bmw got towed away and thrown into a trash compactor

[@lunaris69]

thats hilarious

[@lozoft9]

The scary part is that this is exactly the sort of growth model that AI companies are using now, and there's been an entire fake philosophical movement (effective accelerationism) invented to dress up this tactic in a new set of threads.

[@max7971]

Nah, “jumping into legally grey areas” describes majority of any inventions. We discovered boats thousands of years ago, but there are still grey areas in maritime law. Flight was invented a century ago, and a whole infrastructure and legislation had to be created. The problem is that their ideas are shitty, and designed to manufacture hype, instead of actually creating a product. That’s fine tho, you should check out how many fake plane engineers appeared out of nowhere, when flight started to become popular. Everyone had a plane design, and lots of pilots paid their lives for their incompetance-so yeah, creating hype is as old as humanity.

[@Ponchoed]

Meanwhile they won't touch some junkies pile of trash they squirm around in on the sidewalk

[@exmerion]

Idk about scooter ride sharing but personally owning a cheapo e-scooter is a good replacement for a bike trip. Most places in the US do not have proper bike storage so being able to just fold it up and take it with me is incredibly convenient.

[@sly1292]

I see people bring them on the bus really often. Seems like a great complement to public transit.

[@berengerchristy6256]

I have one and I use it every day. I’m on pace to put 1000 miles on it before I’ve had it for a year. It only takes me to work and the gym and I put 3-6 miles on it per day. Massive quality of life improvement because it saves my knee from walking down the steep hill to my house and it’s strong enough to take me back up

[@alligatorjonesphd]

I see a lot of people pulling theirs through the supermarket instead of parking them outside with the bikes. If they don't have a lock, they need to get one. They can't even get a cart because they think they have to bring the scooter inside!

[@BoldBrandFlakes]

I have a bike and a scooter, while I personally find the bike more fun to ride I have to admit the scooter is significantly better to commute with if you had to. With the bike you have to focus on locking it up and it’s not the easiest thing to lug around. With the scooter I have you can pull a latch to make the scooter fold onto itself and carry it with you. You don’t have to worry about theft in that aspect.

[@guyanomaly]

Agreed. I’m fortunate to live in a city with passable enough bike infrastructure and bike racks on buses (although the bus drivers death glare at you when you hold them up by putting your bike on the rack lol). But it’s just not feasible in a lot of parts of the US. Just please wear a helmet if you’re an e-scooter rider! Your head is precious.

[@sametragichero]

This video as a supercut of scooter destruction was incredible 😂

[@jer103]

People were pissed that these showed up in droves, overnight.

[@TheHesseJames]

@@jer103That’s what you get when hijacking public space.

[@443DM]

this is why we can't have nice things

[@fus132]

@@443DM One near-miss is all it takes.

[@Fluffy65]

@@sametragichero I couldn't stop laughing

[@danieljensen329]

Like Uber, I think the main challenge is that companies like Bird or Lime misunderstood their markets and the added value of their product. There *is* a need for a mobility service like this, but it's not as competition for walking. It's to solve the last mile problem in cities where a good portion of the population uses transit, and it's a need much better served with a single bike/ebike sharing system regulated as a public concession as an extension of the transit system. Bike town (Portland), Citibike (New York, Miami, etc.) and Ecobici (Mexico City) are a few great examples. There is a role for the private sector in financing and operating these systems, but it looks a lot more like a public utility and not like a sexy tech startup with triple digit annual growth for the next two decades.

[@DR_1_1]

Listen again... it's not about helping the public or clean transportation, it's about pocketing billions from gullible investors! 19:41 to make it short.

[@nousersnamesleft]

We have Capital Bike in DC and it’s a good last mile option. It’s cheaper than the scooter or private ebikes. But I’m lucky enough to live with decent public transportation.

[@acka.]

Precisely... When I read the title I was pretty confused as to why they would be seen as a disruption to walking. I've always seen them as a valid alternative for people that don't want to get a private car and would rather used mixed types of transport, not an alternative to pedestrians... Or are bikes also out there to take the place of people moving on their feet?

[@altaimountain]

i crashed my bicycle for the first time in 20 years just weeks ago turning and trying to evade a teenager riding a scooter on the wrong side of the road. thats my biggest beef with scooters. lots of ppl riding them without any etiquette or consideration for other people. there are constant accidents, no wonder cities start banning them.

[@Rallosz]

That incident could just as easily have happened if it was a teenager on a bike

[@altaimountain]

@Rallosz in theory yes, but in practice where i live most bikers somehow follow rules but ppl on scooters don't and that's the whole point of my comment.

[@tauntingeveryone7208]

​@@Rallosz Not really when you consider the speed at which a scooter goes and the lack of proper brakes on them. If it was a bike, the speed would not be a problem and both people could easily pass each other. Scooter mobility sucks compared to bikes. On top of that the brakes of scooters slow down to gradually avoid sudden collision. This is why bikes are less dangerous overall. However, it is still possible just less likely.

[@dillogdall1]

@@altaimountain Just look at the stats, people on bikes gets murdered in droves by people in cars, busses and trucks, scooters is not even a blip on the radar. Just talking a scooter instead of a car is showing more consideration in practice.

[@Anthonybrother]

@dillogdall1 Electric scooters are just underrepresented in statistics because they're a new category of vehicles

[@danpotter3654]

I changed scooters for both Bird and Lime in late 2018 and it was a great gig. I could pick up a bunch in the evening, drop them off in the morning and then head off to my regular day job. I made about a hundred bucks a day after subtracting vehicle mileage and electricity consumed by the chargers. Great beer money! In 2019 they made some changes which reduced the amount available for pickup, and it really killed the profitability so I stopped doing it. Like a lot of startups, they were a win for everybody while they were burning through venture capital but once they started trying to be profitable it completely tanked their brand proposition for both consumers and gig workers.

[@brianwelch1579]

"skirted regulations" - you mean their business plan was based on breaking the law, full stop.

[@Anthonybrother]

Laws are great, they steal rights from you then they sell them back to you.

[@derp777_]

not to be a corporation defender but i think it is important to note that skirting regulations is different from flouting regulations. if you’re skirting regulations, you’re avoiding them by some technicality, going against the spirit of the law without legally violating it. ridesharing apps didn’t fall under the definitions used in laws that regulate taxi companies, for example, and while it is the fault of the companies for exploiting this, it is also the fault of the lawmakers for inadvertently leaving edge cases like this in the law when it was originally drafted, which would have to be corrected later with future legislation once these apps became mainstream. until the laws and regulations are updated, they can’t be punished in court for those business practices. flouting regulations, on the other hand, is just ignoring or breaking the law directly, which would be punishable in court.

[@McCaroni_Sup]

​@@derp777_ Half the time laws are pretty dumb and make things worse. The market for these would have died down without government intervention, but the micromanagers we call politicians just can't resist putting more laws on the books and saying "they helped" to get you to vote for them next time. I love democracy.

[@chesspiece4257]

well no their goal was to do things they knew people wouldn’t approve of, before they had time to write the law, and then try to bargain them into not making the law

[@eliottwiener6533]

Imagine if a form of transportation caught on that required massive subsidies, was extremely dangerous, took up tons of space in our cities, and was harmful to the environment, even while sitting unused most of the time. That would suck.

[@Demopans5990]

Flying cars

[@OmegaRejectz]

Hey wait a sec-

[@Davidf109]

Yeah I want to stop subsidising public transport too😊

[@OmegaRejectz]

@@Davidf109cars are subsidized beyond belief, and even with the subsidies it makes every city in North America insolvent. Most inefficient mode of transportation

[@Shawnjohson1608]

@@Davidf109lies 😂

[@quindelin]

With every video I’m convinced to hate VC’s even more. I love it

[@mobydick4567]

thing is VCs play a critical role in the startups ecosystem - I'd bet your favorite products/companies probably wouldn't have existed without VCs' momey

[@jer103]

VC's don't think long term. They only want short term large gains.

[@Will-be-free]

Sure they fail some times, but think of any great company that you like, and VC's probably helped it get started.

[@krisb-travel]

Vc’s? They help cool stuff come to fruition, if you’re going to hate anyone it should local government. They literally mess up everything

[@quindelin]

@@Will-be-free Valve? Walmart? Dominos? Nintendo? I’ll admit Apple, Google, and Amazon were slightly VC backed before IPO, but these investments were limited and not designed as pump and dumps against poor unit economics and dishonest accounting.

[@mikebaker2436]

One of the issues with the Silicon Valley types is that many have no concept that other weather exists on the planet other than "75°F partly cloudy with a 20% chance of forest fires".

[@jonathanjones770]

Most of them actually originate in other parts of the country(or world) and make their way to California as adults

[@paulblichmann2791]

Me: having 2 feet. The One Percent: "How can I charge him for that?"

[@me-it9jn]

But you can still choose to walk for free

[@greenhowie]

Getcha eating McDonalds. Give ya diabeetus. Take ya foot. Charge ya for it. 'Murica!

[@leightonpetty4817]

@@me-it9jn And people did choose that. Hence, at least partially, these startups no longer exist.

[@klausbrinck2137]

Me: having 2 lungs. The One Percent: "How can I charge him for that?"

[@chronometer9931]

Lime is still going strong as are some other smaller companies

[@TheHesseJames]

I visited Jerez in Spain twice this year and people over there love their scooters as this is a smaller medium sized city and its center is almost impossible to navigate by car. But even there you don’t see any rentals, they are all privately owned.

[@AB-wf8ek]

That was the real issue at heart. The companies were not taking real responsibility for the scooters, which encouraged a culture of abuse. When people own them for themselves, they don't just litter them on the streets.

[@Entertainment-]

⁠@@AB-wf8ek It’s mostly cultural. I don’t know if Japan ever had those scooter companies, but I would find it hard to believe there would be a similar level of abuse over there.

[@maksrambe3812]

​@@Entertainment-Japan has been excellent cycling infrastructure so they would have to compete with the people who already cycle.

[@alkaholic4848]

Temperature probably makes a difference. In the UK where it's cold for 260 days of the year, mild for 100 days, and hot for 5 days; then walking and cycling is more appealing than a motor. The exercise keeps you warm. When i go on holiday to hot countries, walking fast or cycling is excruciating.

[@Ruth-os4mi]

​@@Entertainment-Exactly. Japanese are extremely civilised. They wouldn't dream of dumping them.

[@BladeRabbit]

This is the first video thats actually talked about Bird's bankruptcy. People forgot about e-scooters so much they didnt even cover the death of the market.

[@flytelp]

In Oslo these scooters are very convenient and popular. In the U.S, it feels like competition for cars on the road. In Norway, there are either bike lanes elevated next to the roads or a nicely painted and sufficiently thick land mass

[@dimplick]

They work well in Stockholm too since we implemented some lax parking rules

[@flytelp]

@ Yeah, I’ve used them in Stockholm and it’s sometimes faster than taking the super long escalators down to the subways.

[@HülyeLó]

Just came back from a trip to Hamburg. Voi seemed pretty well-scaled, well-regulated, and popular over there. They claim to be cash flow positive too

[@mind-of-neo]

Yeah to me the only problem with them is not that we need 100,000 regulations to restrict every aspect of using them, but that we need public investment. Investment both in creating dedicated space for them, offering free training to help avoid people getting hurt, and just funding the scooter operation outright instead of expecting it to generate profit through charging people's accounts through some spyware app on their phone. just treat it as additional public transport and be done with it.

[@charliekempf]

Yes even in London they are very popular. I use the scooters and ebikes multiple times a week with no problems

[@WilliamJenkins-kr3im]

The cost of the trips nowadays are outrageous. Not worth the price.

[@Entertainment-]

I can rent a car by the minute for the same price as a Lime where I am.

[@doujinflip]

I subscribe to the local docked bikeshare. Per mile they’re cheaper, faster, more reliable, and better maintained than anything left loose on the street (I lived in China where bikes were all undocked).

[@ambertheater]

denver seems to subsidize them. I pay $3 a month to get rides that cost $0.03 an hour. Unfortunately, I moved away from a scooter parking spot so I'll probably cancel. I've fallen in love with the Lyft scooters, though. They're really fun and I might buy a Segway brand scooter soon.

[@alkaholic4848]

Some idiot in my local city in the UK was sold the dumb idea of scattering rental ebikes everywhere. It was something ridiculous like £15 a day to borrow one. I could get a taxi for that much!

[@danieldaniels7571]

It's not so bad if you purchase one hour LimePasses

[@greenhowie]

There's an e-bike company in Scotland that was doing pretty well - they kept a small stock of bikes that were regularly repaired and were mainly used by delivery couriers. Only located in one small city as well. Then they put a lot of money toward expanding into a bigger city (my city) and I think they lasted for just over a year before pulling out with 3 working bikes left. Kinda feel sorry for them but they could have just asked anyone who lives here, bored kids on council estates like burning stuff.

[@zenith5844]

I have a DEEP hatred for scooters. I’m disabled and my campus has so many of these. They flood accessible ramps and hit us. They aren’t even allowed on sidewalks, but it’s fine for them to almost run us over?!?!?!!

[@elliottlupin]

My god same. My school has such a massive problem with people riding on the wrong side of the bike lanes that there's like 2 posts a day from different people on our school's subreddit complaining about it. I've nearly gotten run over so many times while biking it's insane. I've had to pull out in front of car traffic to avoid them, it's just so fucking dangerous. None of the riders wear helmets or obey road laws, which is the biggest issue in terms of safety. The sheer lack of attention towards pedestrians also doesn't help.

[@chronometer9931]

BS You're talking like their mini monster trucks. E-scooter technology has been excellent for people who actually need to use those ramps. It's become common now for a wheelchair users to add them directly to the wheelchair giving them a new kind of freedom that you activists will never understand...

[@zenith5844]

@ I am disabled?!?!?? I run a club for people with physical disabilities. I talk to wheelchair users all the time. I have almost been hit by scooter users on the ramps repeatedly while using my mobility aid and I know other disabled people that have been hit. There is a special type of scooter that can attach to wheelchairs, but it’s not these and it is INCREDIBLY expensive and inaccessible. The people that use these scooters on my campus are fully able bodied and are disrespectful to disabled people. Maybe instead of policing the “activists” you hate, you actually listen to disabled people.

[@123four...]

@@chronometer9931 Man, no need to lambast a disabled person online because you think you know more than them and have a weird love for electric scooters. And I have no clue what you are talking about with these "activists", I don't think anyone mentioned activists besides you.

[@LachrisLife]

Don’t hate the scooter, hate the people who disregard you.

[@tonywong8134]

What's dumb is people intentionally damaging these scooters all for clout. I do not feel sorry for people who get injured doing this.

[@winterwatson6437]

don’t you just miss the good old days where people destroyed scooters for the love of the game?

[@larrysmith2655]

It’s crazy you could get on a damaged scooter and get hurt.

[@shroomer3867]

I am indifferent to people damaging the scooters as it's them who ride them afterwards, but what I'm really disgusted with is when they throw them into oceans/lakes/beaches, since it's both the scooter contaminting the water, and the battery itself being exposed to salty water which can make the local fauna ill or dead. But no guys, we gotta recycle trust us we are influencers, *throws electric scooter into ocean*

[@DR_1_1]

@@shroomer3867 Batteries are not even recycled, they are just burned. Technology is there to recycle, but too expensive by far. They go in separate bins because you can't burn them with normal waste, you need special filters, that's the only reason. Almost everything you hear on the MSM about "ecology" is fake, including the "Green" parties!

[@guyanomaly]

We used to have Spin scooters in my city. They were genuinely useful to me at the time as a college student who couldn’t drive and didn’t always have my bike with me. I stopped using them when I hit a TINY little divot in the road and was thrown headfirst over the handlebars. I managed to avoid hitting my head but I broke my hand. Later my boyfriend at the time had the same thing happen but did hit his head and was pretty badly concussed. They can’t tolerate any shock at all, so unless your roads are impeccably maintained, you’re gonna wipe out at some point. Wear a helmet, and ideally wrist/elbow pads as well. But a helmet should be mandatory. Anyway, there are no more Spin scooters here, probably for the best. Edit: I also miss taking photos of Spin scooters left in insane places. Thrown off gulches in the woods, submerged on the shore of the river, and in one case hanging off a balcony.

[@doujinflip]

Powered kickboards are among the most dangerous things I've ever ridden, and I've been licensed from motorbikes to combat trucks. It's the small wheels and standing still position that turns a decent crack or pebble into an automatic faceplant, and you're often not wearing a helmet like you really ought to.

[@ScottAllenFinance]

If you can get your hands on a spin scooter, there are some interesting "theories" out there on the internet about how they might be able to be... "liberated"... I know a guy they call Abe Lincoln because he's freed so many. Anyway, not advocating anything, but just saying. It's definitely possible.

[@DR_1_1]

Definitely dangerous... and the smaller the wheels the worse, no suspension, not enough wheelbase, etc.

[@fuckyoutubehandIes]

skill issue, im convinced people that didnt ride razon kick scooters when they were kids have no clue how to properly ride a scooter later in life, the weight distribution when standing on one of these needs to be shifted to the back at all times, like you're pulling on the handlebars leaning back, this way it doesn't matter what your front wheel is hitting, you're not flying forward unless you're slamming into a wall.

[@tauntingeveryone7208]

The problem with scooters is that it is not good for a city to have them docked anywhere. The reason why a lot of ride share cycling has succeeded is that they have certain docking areas; most are based on time and not miles; and they are usually run by city governments. I do not hate the idea of these scooters but you need to set speed limits; set docking areas; and make new multi-purpose sidewalks for this type of venture to succeed.

[@jer103]

It would have been amazing if they would have built enclosed places, where the scooters could charge. Although, this would made the companies work with the city's government, and more planning and construction before launch. They choose to just dump them everywhere.

[@AB-wf8ek]

Ironically, private ownership is the real winner. The real issue is maintenance and responsibility. When an individual actually owns their own scooter and takes care of it, it becomes a really great solution for transportation.

[@DaweSMF]

@@AB-wf8ek You hit nail on the head, maintenance and responsibility is exactly what most users dont want. Thats why its popular, there is none. Once there is maintenance and responsibility attached to it, it will be far less desirable and convenient for people. Not to mention even charging this thing requires some knowledge, safety standarts and if possible place where even random fire wouldnt be danger to your or property and lives of others.

[@blueodum]

IMO it should be illegal to use these things other than on dedicated bike/scooter lanes. And a helmet should be mandatory.

[@Anthonybrother]

That's the real issue. They're in the way. Because most cities and businesses don't bother having dedicated places to park bicycles or other alternative means of transport. So the bikes or scooters have nowhere to be but in random spots, in the way, etc where they are eyesores.

[@WillmobilePlus]

They are very popular in my town because our central city is in a valley while large parts of the city are in higher elevation neighborhoods, so scooters and bikes sure beat the walk uphill or the wait for a bus.

[@Alejandro-u7q7c]

Sounds like a cool landscape.

[@MrDael01]

Which town? Sounds like Aachen, Germany

[@TheHesseJames]

They are perfect for the typical city of around 100.000 inhabitants.

[@WillmobilePlus]

@@MrDael01 Grand Rapids, Michigan USA.

[@steverogers8163]

That was the problem in my area. People rented them to go up the hill, never down the hill. That's where the whole only 1 trip a day problem was. People drove them from a desirable location, to an undesirable location. They just sat there afterwards till a rep came and got them.

[@kendrapetrick649]

Geez what is wrong with ppl just destroying the scooters. It’s appalling.

[@GregCannon7]

In Seattle everyone uses lime scooters downtown, it's become one of the major transit options

[@BrennanLetkeman]

yeah, Calgary (when it's warm enough to support them, they're seasonal) loves 'em. during Stampede they're seemingly most of the traffic downtown. parking is nigh impossible, so you're either walking or scooting

[@ambertheater]

Denver too.

[@olliegoria]

Salt Lake City metro area has them bad too. There's a part on my commute where I have to get off my scooter and maneuver it through the 18 Lime scooters that idiots parked all over the sidewalk

[@chronometer9931]

​​@@olliegoria"has them bad" no what they are saying is that the video is wrong about the north west of North America as the projects are working in those regions. They aren't hated there, but are integrated into the infrastructure. They are never going away because people there want them and are using them

[@Ponchoed]

Im in Seattle. The Lime scooters are the only use our bike lanes get since literally no one rides bikes.

[@PubliusRutiliusLupus]

I haven't used them in the US, but in Europe I found them very useful. However, there's a lot more non-car infrastructure in those cities (like bike lanes) that make the scooters more convenient to use. There were also dedicated scooter parking areas (the company would fine you for not parking it in one of those zones) and as far as I know just one scooter company for the whole city.

[@DR_1_1]

Where I live we first had bicycles, most ended in the river and lake, then scooters - even easier to break or throw away, and now all that's left is e-bikes... they are much heavier, so I guess only a fraction ends in the water.

[@jonahfalcon1970]

Um, Germany and Italy have suffered a ton of casualties and are strictly regulating them now.

[@robertbeisert3315]

"Because fat nerds were the early adopters, and nobody wanted to look like a fat nerd. Also, feet are free."

[@NicksDynasty]

Last Mile travel is definitely important in making cities more walkable and less car dependent. Making a profitable business out of it is another thing. It would be cool if venture capitalists put more money into passenger rail instead. High-Speed rail could definitely compete with airlines in some routes

[@AL-lh2ht]

High-Speed rail is a mega project, it needs at least some government funding.

[@skyfeelan]

you want to know what's the best last mile transport is? our two goddamn legs (we also need more mixed use zoning but I digress)

[@NicksDynasty]

​@@AL-lh2ht for sure. There is government money out there but we need way more. Brightline was mostly private but had some bonds as well

[@NicksDynasty]

​@@skyfeelandefinitely!! Owning a bike is a game changer too. Cities just need to build more protected bike lanes

[@84unisol]

It would but that would take away from subsidies for car manufacturers and other transport companies, which is why public transportation is garbage.

[@thehearingaid]

Bristol in the UK is one of the few places they have thrived. It has poor (small) roads and public transport, and its a city where there is so much going in the different boroughs that you will likely be traversing across town rather than going into the center. It was already a massive cycling city but now anyone who didn't feel comfortable cycling now uses scooters to get about and its quicker then driving a lot of the time.

[@3_character_minimum]

Its also rather a big uni town? And more "sensible" people right?

[@thehearingaid]

@@3_character_minimum Umm aha, In general i'd describe Bristol as chaotic rather than sensible - In a good way mostly (though the posh areas are definitely more sensible). But yeah it's got two main universities.

[@bikeman123]

Electric scooters are still illegal in the UK. Including Bristol. With the police seizing and crushing them I doubt you see many that aren't council controlled rental scooters.

[@thehearingaid]

@bikeman123 yeah they're rental ones. You see the occasional personal ones about and as we don't have a scooter rental scheme in my city I see a few more people risking using illegal scooters or modified ebikes.

[@zunaidparker]

Scooters are tremendously helpful to close the last mile on public transport. Used to own one in Dubai and being able to scoot to and from the metro station made the train a realistic transport option, even the heat of the middle east summer. Owning a scooter is a great value proposition; for a business the rental market just doesn't make sense if people only need it 2-4 times a day from the station to their office/home.

[@israelcruz7180]

Some of the crash footage seemed pretty intense I hope everybody was okay in those clips.

[@Monaug5kid]

I don't.. good riddance

[@who2u333]

🤣

[@mr2loverboy]

The old man that got hit by the lady actually passed away. The lady fled the scene

[@junyaiwase]

@@mr2loverboyshe was never caught?

[@jason_tha1]

You will have 3 really good crashes while mastering the art of Scooter ridings.

[@caty863]

I don't like how the public were trashing these scooters as if they're the enemy. If there should be any mobility device to face public wrath, it should be SUVs.

[@yolbulucu]

people use these a lot here in Spain but not rental ones.They buy them themselves. parking is a huge problem and these scooters make short trips very easy

[@lozoft9]

Thank you for injecting some honesty and sense into a field (business) that is often full of hype, grift, and in the words of Alan Greenspan, "irrational exuberance". You've earned yourself a subscription.

[@Timothy-y7e]

I'm going to sound like an airhead, but I genuinely didn't realize that people were paying to use them. 😅 I wasn't really curious about the business model until I saw this video pop up. I assumed they had contracts with cities or something similar.

[@SeanFKennedy]

I was a charger for Bird and I could have told you based on what they paid me that the business was unsustainable.

[@robd8577]

Micromobilty is indicative of the problems with car based transport.

[@dh510]

It boggles my mind why these companies didn't use exchangeable batteries from the very start. That would have saved them a ton of money in charging and repositioning, because they wouldn't have needed to collect the scooters, store them for hours while they were charging and then redistribute them. - Make the batteries proprietary and securely lock them to the scooters to disincentivise theft. - Keep a certain percentage of charged batteries per vehicle at hand to switch them out quickly. - Equip the company vans with charging banks to top off batteries that aren't discharged all the way -> this would have worked wonderfully with commercial electric vehicles, such as the Rivian delivery van, since the distance of travel in a night wouldn't be very far anyway and you wouldn't even need to remove the batteries from the car, because you would just plug the whole thing in at base.

[@thomasreese2816]

1. People would find a way to steal the batteries. 2. Models like that weren't available even if they wanted them. 3. There are no company vans, or employees recharging them.

[@jer103]

1. They were only made to be stored indoors. So, they needed to be collected every night. 2. They didn't think long term on the design. They wanted them out as fast as possible.

[@jeong-ilkajokaya3849]

Good points. Respect.

[@AB-wf8ek]

People are willing to take a saw to the underside of cars in order to steal catalytic converters. I'm sure if batteries were any easier to steal, people would do that as well.

[@saiv46]

Today it works exactly like that.

[@vjollila96]

Honestly it's sometimes kinda scary to share cycling lines/side walks with rental scooters they can go faster than average unassisted cycler but at the same time seems way more out of the control.

[@chronometer9931]

No it's not, I have zero problems walking with them myself so I don't know who you're gaslighting, but you're being phobic

[@YeeLeeHaw]

Ask the state for wider roads instead of pushing for more regulation by whining about electric vehicles. If the car didn't exist we would have plenty of space for everyone; so hate on that instead.

[@vjollila96]

@@YeeLeeHaw thing is im not from NA but from Finland and trust me they are bit a menace here too

[@YeeLeeHaw]

@@vjollila96 Stop whining and start going by facts. It's the car that needs to go, not these things.

[@doujinflip]

I’d propose forfeiture of medical compensation for injuries sustained while riding a powered vehicle with wheels less than 12” in diameter without a helmet. I’ve been on those things before and it is among the most dangerous rides I’ve ever taken on public streets, and I’m licensed for full-power motorcycles.

[@metalema6]

An uber electric bike crashed on my car 6 months ago and the insurance STILL has no news about the claim.

[@DR_1_1]

It's the rider's insurance that has to pay. Uber are pirates, but they are not involved here?

[@bikeman123]

No. When a rider rents a bike/scooter it is the operator that provides insurance.

[@Uruz2012]

Your insurance ought to cover the damage and then go recover the money on their own. There's no reason you need to wait other than they're trying to rip you off.

[@chronometer9931]

​@@Uruz2012Or he's making it up so he didn't know that...

[@locker47]

"Humans without scooters remain just as competent as ever... cities are functioning just fine" - I heavily disagree with this statement. Efficient transportation especially within dense cities is not a solved problem, and micro mobility is just one of the areas that needs real innovation. As you pointed out, scooter companies simply had bad solutions, business models and unit economics fueled by VCs to get an exit. But no, growing cities are not "just fine".

[@LCCB]

These rental scooters would disappear the next day if people put half the effort into protesting them at city council meetings as they do destroying them on TikTok for views.

[@hysi1527]

Mistake at 10:50 - you said cost grew to $4.97, when graph shows $6.31 (you got the percentage of growth right though)

[@Sequaloid]

you’re wrong

[@Alex-cw3rz]

The thing is the people behind this don't care that the business is a total and utter failure, because they got away with a suitcase full of cash. And until these talentless hacks are punished through fines, this nonsense will not stop.

[@TtotheFred]

What these companies really should’ve done was partner with cities to setup a proper infrastructure for people to ride these scooters more safely. You could even do something like giving businesses a tax incentive to have scooter/bike parking available. Instead there’s way too much money being spent to accommodate cars, which are far more dangerous and costly than any scooter out there.

[@Handlegamer12360]

Yes this could have worked wonderfully if the governments weren't so corrupt. Although Norway implemented a similar plan to what you mentioned and it has been a success.

[@jer103]

They got them out in mass, before any regulations. It's why it was going to fail.

[@TtotheFred]

@ completely agree. Which is why I’m saying first thing they should’ve done is partner with the cities instead of just dumping scooters everywhere and asking for forgiveness later.

[@jer103]

The mindset of the companies was in a fast release, rapid growth, and hooking people to use their service. They didn't care about sustainability, longevity, or planning a better way/path with the city.

[@jerrymiller9039]

Cars are much safer and more efficient

[@Joe-ih3ln]

Great piece but you use too many photos and videos that change too quickly. I often find myself having to pause it just to read the headlines. Use less material but keep it on screen longer

[@RtistiqSkubie]

4:37 the very last time I rode one I hit a raised sidewalk block at full speed & got judo flipped over the handle bars & then did some bounce rolls for the next 10-15 feet.

[@alphaomega5721]

All of these 'device sharing' ideas fall foul of the tragedy of the commons. The weaknesses can be couched in any MBA speak you want, but that is the underlying weakness.

[@maan100283]

The only graffiti I see on bikes and motorbikes are on these business model ones. The footage used in this video is also mind boggling.

[@Aschraffff]

They're excellent to own and use. I use one here in Switzerland to commute to work and other places, and it's fast (well reasonably 20km/h), quiet, doesn't take much space...

[@tripleeyeemoji]

Where I live limes have taken over and people under 30 love them. They expanded the area they can ride to, me and my buddies use them all the time. I hope they never go away

[@DavidM_603]

Consider owning a scooter, saves a lot of money over time and there's no more boxed in area.

[@silverkobo]

it’s more convenient when you don’t return the same way you came

[@fortywolves]

This video has also shown me, with all the scooter destruction, that lime scooters on other cities are substantially lighter, thinner, and with a smaller battery. This puzzled me for a minute until I realized my city is nothing but hills and most of them are 40-45°. In retrospect, smart move to only use the longest lasting, more powerful scooters for this environment. Scooters got me hooked, and it was only while researching getting my own that I learned that it is in fact very hard to get somebody up a big hill with just a little battery and a 50lb scooter body. So overall, wow my local scoots are TANKS compared to what I'm seeing in the video, no wonder the max distance you can travel on one of my locals is like, 20-27mi. Of course they have larger batteries, half of that is going to getting up a ridiculous grade! A little jelly of how light some of these look though, all of ours are 55lb, with full brakes and shocks, and impossible to move without being powered.

[@failedGraphics]

Had a cousin die on one of these things in Atlanta. He was pulling out of the train station right in the heart of Georgia state. He was 21.

[@eyedentity1849]

I live in Seattle. I see these rental scooters everywhere across the city. Blocking sidewalks, intersections, on the streets and they're a complete hazard. There's no regulation. You see a broken, littered scooter every few blocks downtown. I hate them

[@swervin8166]

I hate those things too, but it really feels sometimes like they're the cheapest reliable option to get around Seattle sometimes. Driving here sucks because of all the chokepoints (for those who don't live here -- 1/3rd of the city is completely separated from 2/3rds of the city by a shipping canal with only 3 bridges to get across, and then you have West Seattle which is pretty much an island), traffic (a city this dense shouldn't be so car dependent!), and how fucking expensive it is to insure, park, gas up, and register the damn thing. Rental cars are fine if you only need one once in a while, but they also contribute to traffic. Ubers/Lyfts are crazy expensive. The hilly geography means anyone with mobility issues can't really walk and manually bike large parts of the city. And public transit, while it's growing, is nowhere near what it needs to be in terms of reliability and coverage for anyone who doesn't live or work near the light rail. Micromobility solutions like e-bikes and scooters are actually sorely needed here, and it's super shitty how we don't have any sort of docked solution. SF, Portland, Vancouver all have docked bike-shares on the as far as major west coast cities go. Instead, all we have are these Lime and Bird monstrosities which are abandoned in the middle of the sidewalk by some drunk assholes coming back from a night out on Capitol Hill.

[@NicksDynasty]

How is Uber and Lyft doing with their fleet?

[@OmegaRejectz]

They’re incredibly fun to ride. I can’t imagine actually renting one of these as transport though. Maybe North America will one day learn what trains & pedestrian oriented travel rather than automobiles

[@alkaholic4848]

For cities in the rush hour yes, and for densely populated areas outside the rush hour. But crossing one sides of the suburbs to the other, or in remote towns, public transport is a complete failure. The more people acknowledge that, the more there'll be an appetite to support it and a chance of implementing it successfully.

[@OmegaRejectz]

@@alkaholic4848 hence the pedestrian oriented travel. Bikes and walking are fast and efficient ways to traverse, issue being suburbia exists so you're forced to use a car no matter the distance.

[@bldontmatter5319]

​@@alkaholic4848ok but suburbia is a complete financial failure from the get-go. So how about u muricans stop being special and learn to build something that will last over a decade without become a dangerous area?

[@redstorm4111]

At some point, the US will HAVE to improve public transportation. Since it’s becoming increasingly expensive to own and operate a motor vehicle, and the power grid isn’t strong enough to support hundreds of millions of EVs

[@alkaholic4848]

@@OmegaRejectz Maybe suburbs isn't the best term. I mean just away from the city centre. Less-densely populated areas. Not everybody wants to live in a flat.

[@Danila438]

9:30 doesn't the 1.3 mean that at least in 2022 a third of scooters were used more or at least 2 times?

[@mikek191]

So stupid I wouldn’t believe this was real if I didn’t live through it

[@jason_tha1]

maybe try riding one

[@chronometer9931]

Escooters are awesome, stop being a Luddite

[@Sundji]

Employees charging with their own utility is insane

[@samadsyed5396]

19:41 This quote by Modern MBA is everything

[@Dave_Sisson]

I have better things to do than go back to look it up. What does it say?

[@cannedpigeonmeat]

what? ​@@Dave_Sisson you just click the timestamp? this takes 5 seconds to listen to ??

[@thomaseriksen6885]

Sycophant

[@Dave_Sisson]

@@cannedpigeonmeat I'm lazy, that comment only took 3 seconds to write.

[@smallstudiodesign]

@@Dave_Sissonclick on “ *show transcript* “ and scroll down to see

[@GuitarsRgood7]

I drove for Lyft for 2 months a few years back and any time I went anywhere near the LA area, driving became so much more difficult. Instead of just watching for cars and pedestrians, I had to watch out for scooters going 20 mph across the crosswalks.

[@thefoxman88]

I love the roll-out of scooters in my region, as the laws changed to allow private scooter use along side paid scooters. My scooter is great for the "last mile" from home to the train station, as my local bus route is to good

[@GrimlyFiendish-d6z]

Riding a scoot is for kids. The physics simply aren't compatible with top heavy, brittle boned adults. A safe, adult sized scoot would be as expensive as a compact car.

[@liamthompson9342]

Anyone who's going to commute on one of these things is just going to buy one

[@jason_tha1]

You can get 300 minute of rides for less then $60.00 a month. No maintenance, no up front cost, no one can steal it, it will never break & if it does not your problem. Renting a e-scooter is a good deal. If you prepay or use the government assistance programs.

[@imonbanerjee2997]

​​@@jason_tha1well, you either need a scooter or you don't. If you need it, it's almost certainly cheaper to buy one for yourself. You'd drive it more than 300 minutes per month (either because you're commuting or otherwise). If you don't, they're a novelty. And you'd not spend $60 a month for it P.S. I just saw a niu scooter for 180$ new. That's most certainly worth it over renting

[@jason_tha1]

​The scooters you buy are not built that well. unless you spend big bucks, you're not going to get anything equal to what the lime is. there's a great advantage to just leaving it anywhere and never having to take care of it.​@@imonbanerjee2997

[@user-lk2vo8fo2q]

@@jason_tha1 you understand these things cost like $200, right? that's not very many months before you're better off buying. even if you're going through three of them per year it's still a waste to rent. "if you prepay" is at odds with "no up front cost", but if you truly need there to be no up front costs you can always buy the thing on credit.

[@elliottlupin]

​@@jason_tha1 or you buy one for 250 to 500 bucks depending on the model and it's cheaper after only a year.

[@Julian-tf8nj]

Normally, I am aghast at vandalism, but I make an exception - in the name of public safety (which to me comes first) - and *cheer whenever I see a vandalized scooter!* (Great compilation in this video!) I love walking, and those damn scooters have been a constant threat! I'm so glad that they're far less common now!!

[@Alina_Schmidt]

I live in a city that has scooters for quite some years now. It‘s actually fine altogether. Civilisation hasn’t died and the place didn’t turn into a hellscape.

[@DR_1_1]

Your roads and sidewalks are not overcrowded, then...

[@jonahfalcon1970]

Where do you live? Because globally they're cracking down.

[@floof_hair3857]

My medium sized university town has a recent scooter rental startup. The peak summer temperatures are 40C (104F) , although there is a fair amount of shade. Winter temperatures can drop to 2C (36F) with heavy rains, hail, mild flooding, and strong winds being common. Theft is extremely common. It’s an old town designed with walking in mind, especially in the central area where these scooters are available. Also, students are broke . I’d be amazed if they survive until the end of 2025.

[@Happyheartmatt]

I started using a rental scooter to pick up take out orders or grab a Starbucks, could order online and have my food or coffee in 3 minutes with no car or walk (I get plenty of walking with my business). Bought a NIU scooter and a second for my partner to use on exploring weekend trips. It’s revolutionary for me (not a paid comment I promise)

[@DR_1_1]

You need to be careful though, with these small wheel it's easy to fall?

[@user-lk2vo8fo2q]

10:08 this really seems like it should have been obvious. the fact of the matter is anyone who wants to make using a scooter a regular part of their routine is better off just buying one, or buying a bicycle.they aren't competing with the bus or the subway, they're competing with owning a scooter... and owning a scooter just isn't all that expensive

[@benja_mint]

Scooters were at the time massively more expensive to buy though, especially if the main user was teenagers.

[@pierrex3226]

I own an EUC (electric wheel). Do all my city trips with it. I absolutely love it, it goes weeeeee. Zipping through town is amazing. I tried these scooters a few times: ride feel is trash, it's expensive, bulky, heavy, equally dangerous, and having to find a scooter is annoying. There's a steep learning curve for EUCs for aure, but it's become second nature. I can go fast, or walking speed. The footprint is tiny. I can carry it up stairs no problem. Just like communism showed, you have to own something to take care of it. So electric micro mobility is amazing, really. But rental scooters are not the answer.

[@DR_1_1]

Monowheels are the most dangerous of all, though...

[@chronometer9931]

​@@DR_1_1 No they aren't, maybe you're thinking about one wheels since those tend to throw the rider off and break the collarbone, but those are different machines...

[@YeeLeeHaw]

@@chronometer9931 That's more a Future Motion problem, or the rider pushing it passed the warnings than it is anything wrong with the the design.

[@YeeLeeHaw]

@@DR_1_1 They aren't if you ride responsibly and have a high quality EUC. Many of the accidents you see is due to riders pushing their vehicles too hard, tinker with their vehicles, or the manufacturers pushing their products to market before proper safety testing has been made. The newest EUC's today are so powerful that nothing should happen unless it's either of the previous mentioned situations.

[@EJW2003]

From Edmonton Alberta here, I think the Lime scooters are awesome and I use them every day (for context I own a car). I live in south central edmonton on a bike lane, and barely go anywhere without these scooters or bikes. It’s like a speed boost that’s congestion free to wherever I need in the area; groceries, parks, restaurants, and most importantly the subway station which would be a 10-15 min walk turned into a fast and fun 5 minute scooter or bike ride and I don’t have to worry about my bike being stolen at the station. However I wish they would have bike and scooter stations at the subway (called the lrt here) stations. As it is now you can’t park at the station you have to park it across the street Another note: edmonton doesn’t allow the e-scooters and bikes along our Main Street (Whyte Avenue) but we built protected bike lines a block north which fully parallels whyte avenue. It feels like a highway for local trips and it’s tree lined so is so pleasant. Only downside is it’s a bit of a detour to get to where you want to go on whyte ave and I hope they add protected bike lanes on whyte avenue in the future (especially when there’s finally rapid transit along whyte avenue and less people need to drive) Other cities have bike share but these scooters and bikes are almost better in my opinion as there’s scooters everywhere as well as special parking stations. Like I said before I hope they add more parking stations at transit stops in the future, really like these things

[@bruce8496]

I really appreciated the creativity sarcasm towards VCs, it was subtle but sharp 😅

[@siberx4]

9:50 You say that because they use lithium-ion batteries they drain overnight, but this isn't accurate. Lithium-ion batteries (along with most other battery chemistries) have self-discharge rates measured in months to years, not days. If they actually do need to be recharged after sitting overnight (which I doubt) it would be because of badly designed electronics on the scooter drawing a high parasitic load, but even that is very unlikely given the battery sizes involved.

[@john-carl2054]

I got on one of these scooters once. It was pretty fun. Think I’ll ride one again.

[@ottopartz1]

When Lime and Bird came to town me and one of my employees at my 9-5 were making crazy money going out at night and putting them back out in the morning, and scrapping the broken units. After the first two years they changed the pay and we decided to quit.

[@UndyingLeo]

I swear these things are more of a danger to society than a help. The amount of drunk people I've seen laid out after falling is sadly too high.

[@FullLengthInterstates]

its better than them getting behind the wheel. which is what they'll do if they're too broke or stubborn to get an uber

[@dannydaw59]

You gotta watch out for storm drains with sunken grates. I just barely missed one of those in Charlotte and I was sober without a helmet.

[@DavidRamirez-vc8dr]

Cars are the real danger and should be banned

[@hydrohasspoken6227]

Cars kill millions per year but i guess that never sounded an alarm in your brain

[@YeeLeeHaw]

Here's a scary thought for you. All these people would be just as drunk in a car.

[@Rudi-xd1bp]

What is with all the full grown adults acting like children and vandalizing them ?? Grow up people!!

[@SkywalkerPaul]

I sold a lot of scooters here in Germany and saw that the rental business will fail.

[@aethylwulfeiii6502]

The bicycle makes your legs look good. The scooter just makes you even fatter.

[@Noble98]

It annoys me watching all these idiots throwing and abusing the scooters. I hated electric scooters but destroying property for clicks is not acceptable.

[@Natak222]

That one guy with the dogs that kicked the scooter down as if the scooter called him a slur is the dumbest thing i’ll likely see this month. Most human beings are bad ppl and it’s sad

[@Noble98]

@Natak222 i find trouble in agreeing most humans are bad people. Whike i do find some societies inferior, I don't think the human in of himself is a being of poor quality. More likely the bad apples stand out, and the media monetary incentives from highlighting their actions reinforce an incorrect view that most are bad people. Using everyone's favorite politics as an example, most people can talk shop without getting offended and ruining relationships. It's very few right/left neandrathilic fools actually are ao tied up in their beliefs that they'll write off others. They however leave a stronger impact. I'd also say no human is wholey good. However I don't think the gray mixture of black and white removes one from being able to still be attributed to a side of the binary. Tldr: don't give up on people, we are good. Positivity just doesn't get clicks and we aren't ONLY good, each one of us has some bad too.

[@Entertainment-]

Just imagine some kid in Africa mining cobalt for the batteries, another kid in China assembling it only for it to land in a river after a day of use.

[@megapangolin1093]

Couldnt think of a better dangerous product to destroy than a scooter.

[@markdotinc8371]

They sure as hell disrupt my walking

[@bestcakes]

I’ve been living in Moscow Russia for about three months now and I must say the scooter niche is doing great here. The rentals are cheap, and the effectively facilitate commutes from the metro station to the destination point. Sidewalks in Moscow are mostly smooth concrete, which definitely helps.

[@paulblichmann2791]

Well you live in a civilized country unlike USA.

[@dieSchreckschraube]

@@paulblichmann2791 Both, the USA and Russia are terrible countries tbh.

[@ericcarabetta1161]

Their big mistake was expecting people to behave themselves and not abuse the devices they left scattered around cities.

[@IvarDaigon]

While there is a lot of criticism towards scooter companies that I agree with, electric scooters themselves are beneficial for commuting because they have a base range of 25 kilometers (15.53 miles), which puts them in the same category as buses, taxis, Uber, e-bikes, and bicycles. There are very few people who can or would be willing to walk 25 kilometers (15.53 miles) to their destination, so comparing scooters to walking is deeply flawed.

[@cantkeepitin]

More than 10km on a scooter is not that convenient. We in Europe have good public transportation for this. I think 5km is fun and often needed. Below 1..2km I would walk.

[@cerumen]

@@cantkeepitin not everywhere in Europe has good public transit

[@cerumen]

@@cantkeepitinnot everywhere in Europe has good public transit. Not everyone is as able to walk.

[@ed1011]

the conclusion was so right 'on the money'. 😀 All these people who created these startup's, cashed out while time was good, move on to the next sliced bread.

[@spicemasterii6775]

The "riding" was on the wall?

[@V8dadmartin]

I remember when I started college in 2017, we started a temporary school club that basically involved mass renting the birds on Santa Monica and just cruising everywhere in packs of 10-30 students 😂

[@fakename9303]

Where i live they are a joyride tool for teenagers and mid-50 people who are drunk. Pointless gadget for entitled people.

[@chronometer9931]

You must be fun at parties

[@YeeLeeHaw]

You must be a European.

[@BCrossing]

Do we really need 8,782 clips showing various people vandalising scooters?

[@ThootenTootinTabootin]

I have owned an escooter for a little over 3 years. I have almost 3000 miles on that $800 investment. I have replaced a few tires. They range from $8-20. I am going to install a new motor($150) next week. Absolutely the best purchase i have ever made. If your life can support it, you'd be an idiot to not.

[@aloyminimum]

I got a personal scooter and those are great as long as you stay safe and aware while riding. I hated paying an absurd amount of fees for what was essentially a rip stick with a handle and motors, so I just bought one and yeah it's pretty good.