My Most Joyful Morning ever - Austin Scooters Burning!

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Not much rain in DT Austin area last night, I don't think. Very little on the south-side, either.

Checking totals, it's amazing that under one inch of rain fell in most areas, given the light show!!!
Dodging the bullet again this morning; but between Buda and San Antonio is getting clobbered!

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

Checking totals, it's amazing that under one inch of rain fell in most areas, given the light show!!!
Dodging the bullet again this morning; but between Buda and San Antonio is getting clobbered!

I saw that. Harper out near Fredericksburg really got hit last night and then again today.

[verybadgnome]

France and Germany have voted to allow scooters, but not on sidewalks and with an max speed of 13 and 15 mph respectively. Additionally in France it is illegal to ride with headphones.

And apparently Austin was an influence for these new laws:

"Studies are also coming out revealing how dangerous they can be. One, conducted in the Texan city of Austin, in the US, in from September to November 2018, found that at least 190 riders were injured during the study period. Almost half had a severe injury, most of which (84%) were fractures."

https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/17/...m-the-pavement

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

France and Germany have voted to allow scooters, but not on sidewalks and with an max speed of 13 and 15 mph respectively. Additionally in France it is illegal to ride with headphones.

And apparently Austin was an influence for these new laws:

"Studies are also coming out revealing how dangerous they can be. One, conducted in the Texan city of Austin, in the US, in from September to November 2018, found that at least 190 riders were injured during the study period. Almost half had a severe injury, most of which (84%) were fractures."

https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/17/...m-the-pavement

They're extremely annoying at times I wont lie mainly because the way they were implemented and just dropped off at every major city without the proper infrastructure, parking, or even laws governing how and where to use them, although some places are getting better. I personally think Atlanta has it worse though. I know of several deaths involving them and cars in Atlanta which is forcing them to re-evaluate roads to incorporate them.

I dont think they would be terrible if they had dedicated space or pathways or especially that riders didnt just jump on them while completely oblivious to their surroundings ... it could be made into something workable for inner city travel with the right model I'm sure.

Some cities are getting dedicated parking nodes for them and requiring users to park them their or they will face a fine as to prevent them from being littered all over the streets and sidewalks.

[Roadking2003]

This is a very easy problem to solve. The scooter companies have the customer's credit card. Just charge them a $25 drop fee if they leave it where they shouldn't.

[El Chingaso]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

They're extremely annoying at times I wont lie mainly because the way they were implemented and just dropped off at every major city without the proper infrastructure, parking, or even laws governing how and where to use them, although some places are getting better. I personally think Atlanta has it worse though. I know of several deaths involving them and cars in Atlanta which is forcing them to re-evaluate roads to incorporate them.

I dont think they would be terrible if they had dedicated space or pathways or especially that riders didnt just jump on them while completely oblivious to their surroundings ... it could be made into something workable for inner city travel with the right model I'm sure.

Some cities are getting dedicated parking nodes for them and requiring users to park them their or they will face a fine as to prevent them from being littered all over the streets and sidewalks.

San Diego has started painting designated scooter parking spaces in the "red curb" zones, which makes a ton of sense. It seems to be working great, based on the before/after I've seen.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by El Chingaso

San Diego has started painting designated scooter parking spaces in the "red curb" zones, which makes a ton of sense. It seems to be working great, based on the before/after I've seen.

Yeah. I'm not exactly against their model but more so how people use them and how careless people are with them. They are a great value to inner-city travel and solve last mile issues when combined with transit nodes. I'm all for multi-node transit in core areas however. Downtown Austin isnt exactly car friendly IMO but it's still the most effective way to travel there for most of the metro. At one time I was against pedestrian / bike / scooter while restricting automobile traffic but I'm beginning to think twice on that now. Austin in particular will definitely need to be creative in terms of transportation because they cant widen any of the inner-city roads much more and especially not enough to keep up with growth. Density and inner-city transit is going to be very important going forward.