Cool that NC State Did a Study on this.
Thanks for the link. Also from the study:
In this study, we found that the global warming impacts associated with the use of shared e-scooters are dominated by materials, manufacturing, and automotive use for e-scooter collection for charging. Increasing scooter lifetimes, reducing collection and distribution distance, using more efficient vehicles, and less frequent charging strategies can reduce adverse environmental impacts significantly. Without these efforts, our Base Case calculations for life cycle emissions show a net increase in global warming impact when compared to the transportation methods offset in 65% of our simulations. Taken as a whole, these results suggest that, while e-scooters may be an effective solution to urban congestion and last-mile problem, they do not necessarily reduce environmental impacts from the transportation system.
It would great if they would allow competitors on their campus. I work on Centennial and now have zero scooter/bike share options to get home. Lime can’t leave campus and they don’t allow anyone else on their campus. They should at least allow a Citrix station as this reduces the collection impact they refer to in their study.
4 Likes
The case for providing charging docking stations for scooters is compelling when one considers that scooters are currently charged by “employees” that collect them by truck or car nightly, charge them, and then redistributed them by cars and trucks before morning.
5 Likes
in San Diego I saw some ridiculous cars picking up scooters to charge (or unloading in the mornings after they were charged), like a sedan with a trailer and like 400+ scooters, scooters in an open trunk, the trailer, in the car itself, as many as they could fit. I honestly don’t think its a big deal if they are that efficient but maybe thats an edge case. To me the scooters are great because they are starting a conversation that transit doesn’t have to include cars which means we can build more bike lanes, rules for sidewalks, and force conversations around cars. THAT SCOOTER IS GOING TOO FAST! But cars go 20-25 mph faster 5 feet over there? Every time I hear someone complain they seem to have one anecdotal story about how they “litter the sidewalk” or they got “cut off on the sidewalk”. Its the same to me as someone complaining about a homeless person asking for change. They force a conversation to fix root cause issues (wrt homeless, ways to support them, feed them, educate them or just mental illness in general, etc, wrt scooters, bike lanes, less car lanes, charging areas, etc)
1 Like
Drew, now you got me, that thing is awesome, let’s pray for these suckers to make to the streets.
Can we get some scooters in this town? My crosstown trip would have been a pleasant scoot, now I’m calling an Uber and getting in some unknown dudes car. Good work team!
OMG what did people do before Uber and scooters??? 
1 Like
Drink and drive? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1 Like
They walked. Remember that activity? 
4 Likes
I don’t recommend it drunk tho… Seems dangerous
Soooooo where are the Gotcha scooters?
Also I’m really interested to see where the no scooter zones are (where their service area will be) and where the parking areas will be.
2 Likes
I think they’re caught up in regulations and abiding by the ridiculous regulations to get deployed. I’m sure their PR/Social media efforts will sugar coat it.
If Gotcha scooters will have designated parking areas, my guess is that they need the city (or a contractor) to add signage or marking to those areas. Does anyone know how this works in other cities? Are there real markings for scooter parking or is it virtual, through an app?
If they are serious that they are supposed to be transit extenders, then those places need to include bus stops and possibly bikeshare stations. Also, I hope that they put them on the street, and don’t carve our sidewalk and/or landscaped areas for their parking.
2 Likes
Instead of including bus stops at scooter locations - why not just allow scooters at all bus stops. Makes sense to me.
2 Likes
That’s what I was saying. If bikes and scooters are transit options, they need to be connected to other transit options.
I was surprised today. Spotted two riders on personally owned scooters. They were riding on the street too.
The future is electric!
3 Likes
Nicole (City Council person at-large) just asked the City Manager to provide a report on the status of Gotcha scooters. I presume it’s the city holding up the deployment. This was in context to all of the large events coming to town in the coming weeks.
5 Likes
Nicole is just about the only one worth a damn. I look forward to voting for her re-election.
8 Likes
Their image of Raleigh on their website might need an update as well.
https://screenshots.firefox.com/E4F29F0v5dAfRKhK/ridegotcha.com
5 Likes