October 30, 2018

Scooter Sighting: A Drop in the Coming Flood

Spotted on Georgia, a scooter (non-electric).  This one struck me as odd only because it was so rare.

 

Why hasn’t there been a sudden inundation of dockless electric scooters like Lime, Bird and others that have appeared in cities from San Diego to Seattle?  It’s surely only a matter of time.

To councillors (who would like to avoid having to make decisions on any more bike lanes), get ready for their presence on sidewalks.  If you want to avoid that conflict, then that may mean making provision for scooter/bike lanes.

 

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  1. As a parent, I see scooters everywhere! It seems like every second kid is using them. They’re cheap, compact, fun and more practical than bikes for many applications. As these kids grow up and scooters become more common in schools, I’m sure they’ll take their scooters to more and more places.

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  3. Totally agreed, Gordon! As you know, I live in Portland, where scooters have instantly taken over streets, sidewalks and bike lanes. I think it’s been a *wonderful* disruption! It will FINALLY force Portland do dramatically redesign many streets to accommodate MANY more people using active transportation.

    You’ll also find that the great new protected bike lane on the Burrard Bridge won’t be nearly wide enough once e-scooters arrive by the thousands. And Hornby will *definitely* have to be converted to a one-way bike/scooter lane, because its two-way configuration will be woefully inadequate to handle the crush of e-scooters and cyclists. But again, this is GREAT news, because it will force Vancouver to create more north-south cycling/scooter infrastructure very quickly.

    And this doesn’t even *begin* to address the exponential growth of e-cycling! It’s a truly transformational technology! Getting up any hill is no longer an issue for those on e-bikes. Plus, people will confidently go a lot faster a lot more easily. This will dramatically increase the number of people biking.

    The goal should ALWAYS be to eliminate as many *unnecessary* car trips as possible. Some people *need* to drive for their jobs (hauling equipment to many places per day all over the metro area, for example). But there are many, many thousands of people in Vancouver who don’t need to drive a tenth as often as they do. Let’s keep improving incentives for them to take active transportation! 🙂

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