Originally Posted by
wolfchild
Scooters are just toys for little kids and they're not even all that popular amongst kids, I only see kids on them occasionally. How do you do shopping and carry a bunch of groceries on a scooter, how practical would it be to commute 15 miles per day to work on a scooter ??....at least with a bicycle you can attach racks/panniers and carry things...Scooters are just toys for goofing around, I just don't see them as an alternative form of transportation.
You are forgetting last mile. Don't get hung up on that word "mile" like some here do. When I say "last mile" I am speaking of the distance between home and the metro, and between the metro and work. I agree that few would try a 15 mile commute on a scooter; but one mile to the metro, and then maybe another mile from the metro to work, that is a lot easier to invision.
I know some here will say (and have said) "a mile! I'd just walk that!". Great for that person! That person probably isn't the intended market. Some will say that a bike is a better choice for the use I just described, I would generally agree; except that some systems limit the number of bikes allowed. That number seems to be hit long before the light rail gets to everyone's stop (add to that weird things like the metro police kicking the bikes off in order to make room for wheel-chairs; that problem seems to be fixed now, one of the people to get booted one morning was a judge).
No, the scooters will not replace bicycles for the determined cyclist, that is absurd to expect. However, they might make the metro a bit more palatable to a person who normally drives.