tandempower

What does all that have to do with the concept of a lowest common denominator?

350htrr

Cars seem to be what works well/best for most of the people, thus... cars are what most people use to get from A to B, (lowest common denominator)... Not the other means of transport that IS available.

tandempower

I think you just mean that it is popular. Using the term 'lowest common denominator' is superfluous. It doesn't seem to refer to anything more specific than popularity and all the factors that cause it and obstruct deviation from what's established as popular culture.

350htrr

You could look at it that way. I look at it as what works for most people as transportation, a bicycle can work, a bus can work, a train can work walking can work... and yet most people choose a car, to me that makes a car the lowest common denominator as to what works for people to go from A to B... But, maybe my understanding of English is not as good as I think it is...

I-Like-To-Bike

For those who are invested mentally or financially in the success of rental scooters as a business enterprise there is a museum you might find enlightening.


https://curiosity.com/topics/the-mus...ops-curiosity/

Walter S

That's the bottom line. Look around at the huge number of e-scooters in just the past few months. The Atlanta Beltline looks like a e-scooter infection run amok with thousands of new faces that wouldn't be caught dead "exercising" but don't mind at all holding down a button and riding around.

tandempower

I find this aspect of escooters so interesting!

It's the smallest-possible electric motorized vehicle you can 'drive,' unless you consider something like e-skates.

Finally it seems like there's some efficiency-consciousness in the motorized population. It's like people are asking themselves, "what is the minimum I need to do to motor from A to B?" and the answer turns out to just involve a small battery-powered electric motor with handlebars and a throttle button.

Most of what you pay for (and lug around with you) in a car is furniture, upholstery, roof, windows, and a bunch of other built-in accessories. Moving in a simpler direction has a timeless appeal on many different levels, and it can be done in so many different ways.

fietsbob

Only seen one, powered, here, ridden by a 'Coastie',
probably because they have room to stow it aboard ship.

PaulH

No way I'm going to spend a half hour standing up on my way to work. I don't mind pedaling as long as I get to sit down.

350htrr

E-Bikes are legally still bicycles, Scooters are not...

bensonthetiger

The idea of scooters and shared scooters isn't horrible. The speed of their proliferation and lack of regulation are at issue. In Atlanta, there are sometimes a dozen scooters on the intersection I live on in town. It's difficult to find them in good weather as everyone's using them or they are dispersed elsewhere, but as it's getting colder, they are piling up with little to no use all day. They represent a safety hazard without proper helmets and the grey area of do you ride them on sidewalk or street, but until more cities/states crack down on either scooter users or the scooter companies to enforce stronger safety measures, I believe injuries will only increase.

KraneXL

Not everywhere. Some countries require a license and insurance to ride one.

Mobile 155

Much the same here. The companies seem to feel they have to right to just flood the street with the things.

https://nbcpalmsprings.com/2018/11/3...CFKGjfTOzhV4YE

JoeyBike

And, just when you thought your trails were a safe haven...

Joggers and motorized vehicles, in the hands of amateurs, confined to a narrow space. Oil and vinegar with a touch of gasoline. All we need is some static electricity and....

tandempower

Has any automaker ever felt otherwise with their motor-vehicles?

Mobile 155

Dahon.Steve

As someone who uses a regular non-electric kick scooter, I can say for certain that your legs get stronger with each use! Although I only use my Xootr once a month, I actually go faster after the third or fourth use. I'm not as fast as an electric scooter but I've seen kids go just as fast as bike messengers! Personally, I can keep up with slow hybrid bike riders and that's with the limited amount of use. If I used one daily for a couple of months, I would be almost as fast as an electric scooter.

The main reason I haven't purchased an electric scooter is because my needs are taken care of by a regular kick scooter when used with public transit. Unless your trip is more than 2 miles, a standard kick scooter is ideal. The time saved between a electric and non-electric kick scooter over the course of 1 mile is probably less than 5 minutes.

I would like to test ride one of these electric kick scooters. Although I wouldn't buy one because because of their high cost but the fact I don't have to lug it everywhere and just leave it on the street is a huge attraction.

tandempower

You're shifting the issue away from the fact that automakers have always just produced cars and sold them into local markets. It was always up to local people and governments to deal with the influx, manage the infrastructure, etc. The governmental costs of providing infrastructure for driving are enormous and it's gotten to a point where various contractors make it into an industry to draw public infrastructure funding for the sake of their own financial gain. In reality, it is tax payers and the environment shouldering the burden of all the cars and trucks dumped onto roads.

jon c. 

That really isn't the issue being discussed in this thread.

Mobile 155

I-Like-To-Bike

The alleged or suspected sins of the automakers and the people who buy or want their product is always the issue with TP, no matter what issue is being discussed in a thread.

tandempower

When has any automaker ever concerned themselves with anything besides maximizing their production output, sales, and revenue?

You have yourself said that it's not a company's job to take responsibility for the effects of its products and their usage, yet you are blaming these scooter/bike share companies for what is in your opinion irresponsible corporate behavior.

Mobile 155

tandempower

The automotive culture has had the various levels of government catering to it since Model T times. Eisenhower launched the interstate highway system to try to move motor-traffic out of the cities onto the highways, among other reasons. Ever since mass production of automobiles began, governments have been struggling with what to do with them all. The companies producing them were not concerned with anything except making money with them and lobbying governments to support them in doing so. As a result, cars and trucks litter so many landscapes, along with the pavement that's been poured for them as their red carpet. Only the fact that they've become culturally normalized is it not blatantly obvious what a huge pile of metal and pavement they form almost everywhere you go.

Mobile 155