Dockless Scooters for Raleigh

@dwight I love your use of chaos here. It reminded me of this 1906 video of Market Street in San Francisco. Just try and count the number of transit uses in play here. I wonder if, to a certain extent, the attempt to regulate and compartmentalize each transit mode (like we have today with sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, street lanes, etc.) creates more conflict rather than a level playing field for all so that human awareness kicks in and all modes kind of “get along.” (again, to a certain extent)

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Just saw this add yesterday on social media. I guess we have bird in downtown soon!

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I signed up but never heard anything back from Bird. I’m hoping it wasn’t a scam :flushed:

I’m trying to sign up as a charger but the form isn’t submitting. Tried different browsers, too. I have a friend in Atlanta that makes good money on the side charging.

I looked into signing up to be a “bird hunter” but I read you can’t pick them up till 9 or sometimes 10pm, then they need to charge for about 5 hours and then you have to have them back out by 7AM.

I’ll just leave this here… People In San Francisco Are Pissed Over Electric Scooters (HBO) - YouTube :rofl:

At least they won’t take up as much sidewalk as the rickshaws. :disappointed_relieved:

There’s a chargers meeting tomorrow so I suspect you’ll start to see Birds out starting Wednesday!

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That’s exciting to hear! I think scooters are great.

Regardless what you think, be sure to let the city council and city staff know your position, they are crafting policy to regulate dockless bikes and will doubtless consider scooters as part of the process.

Birds will be released tomorrow morning downtown and in Cameron Village. Use code “BIRDRALEIGH” for a $5 credit. Have fun!

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I saw two of them around Cameron Village today. I think they are already flying!

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How do they require it?

On the scooter it tells you what you need to do to ride. Obviously there’s no way they can check. I was looking at the app and it says Bird will ship you a free helmet if you pay for shipping.

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Easy and kind of fun. Welcome Bird to Raleigh!

https://dtraleigh.com/2018/07/dockless-scooters-launch-in-downtown-raleigh/

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I’m sure our modern, progressive, city of the future council will ruin this before too long.

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I understand that eScooters like this are not legal to be riden in either the street or on the sidwalk, per existing state law.

Wouldn’t this have been vetted then when these hit Charlotte? I’m not saying you’re wrong I’m just wondering if there is more to it.

Why could u not ride a scooter on a street? People do it all the time. And mopes, bikes with electric motors, etc. And I’d like to see the enforcement of it on the sidewalks. I’m picturing a cop running after a hipster zipping along at 15mph

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I completely agree. There needs to be a social understanding about the fundamental use of a sidewalk. It’s a pedestrian zone. It’s not a motorized vehicle zone. When you get onto a motorized scooter, you are no longer a pedestrian.

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It’s ironic to me that we are building more urban experiences in our city so that people can WALK, and then we go straight to another motorized mechanism to keep us from walking or using our own power to move through these urban environments. I thought that there were supposed to be health benefits to living in a place that gets us moving on our own.

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