This is timely. I bet it becomes an election issue, maybe not a major one, but it’ll be mentioned who was against scooters and “drove them out of town.”
Again, the Council of No consists of Crowder, Thompson, Cox, Mendell, and Stephenson.
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For those looking for an alternative, CitrixCycle has been getting some great reviews (tweets):
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This council will find a way to drive them out of town, too.
Chowder is the biggest thorn. Is any one running against her? Nothing will change until she gets voted out.
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Just got this email from Bird…
Thank you, Raleigh.
We had a blast helping you reduce traffic and congestion in Raleigh. Unfortunately, burdensome city regulations and fees made it impossible to continue to offer our service affordably and equitably. April 30 is the last day Birds will fly in Raleigh. The good news is Bird is flying in over 100 cities. Take a ride when you can. Goodbyes are never fun, so let’s call this a see you later.
Especially thanks to Dickie Thompson for his arbitrary fee he imposed on them then doubled later. I know others voted along with him but this is not the leadership we need on this council.
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Apparently Saige Martin is running for the District D seat.
I know nothing about him other than what is reported in this article. Though I think he did show up to a SW CAC meeting.
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it was not arbitrary. It was punitive and intentional and had the effect he intended it to have.
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WNCN reports that while Bird and Lime are gone, five or six other companies including Lyft did submit proposals.
Its a program in conjunction with the city so I’m guessing they won’t run it out of town.
I’m ready to vote against all these people on the city council that keep doing this kind of thing. As I have in the past
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how can the city rep state that “scooters will be available in the city going forward”? The only two providers have said they will pull out at the end of April, and any possible contractors from the RFP won’t come on board till late summer at the earliest, if any of the proposals are accepted.
The very best case scenario is going the whole summer without access. Pessimism has proven justified at every point the city has involved itself in this issue, I have no faith they have created a workable framework for the RFP.
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I’ll likely be very unpopular for saying this, but the scooter companies & some/many of their riders own their own demise.
If the companies hadn’t been so arrogant to just dump the scooters without coordinating with the city, and if some of the riders hadn’t been so inconsiderate with their behaviors on sidewalks, roads, & with where they dumped the scooters after riding, the city might not have reacted in the way that it did. If there wasn’t a problem, the city wouldn’t have intervened.
Raleigh is not alone in pushing out these scooter companies. Many cities have done the same before us. This is not a stain on the city itself, it’s an identifier of the flaws in the business model and its impact on communities’ infrastructure and people. Just because something is cool and is seen as a disrupter, it doesn’t mean that it’s okay to let them run amok and do whatever they want.
On the bright side, this just opens up more possibility for the bikeshare that was coordinated with the city, and did have community outreach in terms of identifying how and where it was going to be deployed. On a yearly basis with unlimited rides, using CitrixCycle is also more affordable.
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Raleigh, a city run by grandpas
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John, bikeshare is getting less than 20% of the usage per vehicle that scooters had. So far they’re getting less than .5 rides per day per bike. They’re also much less widely available, and much less popular. And research shows dockless scooters and docked bikes compliment each other, increasing ridership for both. Removing the scooters hurts CitrixCycle’s prospects. CitrixCyle is only more affordable because the government is subsidizing it, and its available to only a small fraction of the population compared to scooter coverage. It is not a replacement.
All of the problems you state with scooters could be said of cars, except that cars have killed many pedestrians in Raleigh in the last year. Scooter riders never even injured one pedestrian. Just because other cities are being regressive is not cover for us to do the same.
We had a once in a lifetime opportunity to start turning people away from cars. It was hugely popular with citizens. We killed it out of fear and resentment.
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Not unpopular. Good points and not wrong.
Could Bird have been more strategic and amicable in it’s entry into the city, of course. We would have been able to enjoy Bird scooters by 2025.
Could riders have been more responsible if they were less stupid, and/or if the city were more ready with guidance as to where and how to ride? Of course. There were a lot of idiot riders and it didn’t help “our” case.
Could the city have been more amicable to accept this thing that was dropped on their lap as to not strongly discourage it’s existence, of course. There are other cities that have managed to deal with it and their residents are able to continue participation with the program. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t come without it’s negatives as we saw here in Raleigh.
I think this exercise has at least brought to light that at least DTR residents want more options. I’m not sure Citrix Cycle is a replacement of Bird/Lime but I’m glad it FINALLY is in place and the timing with Bird/Lime leaving and Spring being here is great. I haven’t personally tried them yet since I have my own personal electronic transportation, but I hear good things and I’m thrilled it exists. The option also isn’t going to come in the form of Rail or BTR any time soon. I think our best bet is to hope the city and scooter companies can come to an mutually amicable agreement and we do see scooters back on the streets later this year.
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Nothing is a once in lifetime opportunity. When these companies keep getting rejected by growing and mature markets, the model will change, and there will be a new model.
I understand your frustration and disappointment, but if the current model keeps getting rejected, something is wrong with it.
Totally agree @John. I see this phenomenon of electric scooters as a beta test and in the next year I think/hope we’ll see some more common standards surface that our more conservative city maybe can adopt.
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I actually don’t think that conservative or liberal has anything to do with it.
There are real issues that have to be addressed, and an argument can be made that it’s very liberal to put citizens’ safety and proper access to the infrastructure right-of-way over corporate profits and expansion.
it is only getting rejected in cities where leaders are hostile to it. 100s of cities have them operating with no problem.
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