Thanks for saying this. I wear a helmet every ride because I have a friend who bumped their head in a low speed over the handlebars crash. They seem fine but they won't taste or smell for the rest of their life.
That's mostly because of the culture of respect and patience amongst all modes in Holland. In Holland people queue politely on their single speed heavy bikes at stoplights while in San Francisco we've had multiple injuries this year on Market St from bike-on-bike collisions caused by people from the back of the "pack" timing out red lights and passing stopped riders at high speeds.
A human powered scooter is perfectly fine on the sidewalk. Luxe used them for their staff to get around. I'd love to see a non-motorized docked scooter startup.
None of those bikes we saw piled up in China were ebikes and they were all going to be recycled. The VW cars are awaiting regulatory approval for export or resale. The scooters on the other hand are difficult to recycle and weren't even designed for shared use.
They were paying gig economy workers to collect them after 8pm, charge 10-30 at a time in their apartments, and redistribute from 5-8am. They paid some of these people to show up today and talk about how great it pays. I really wish they could talk to some Uber drivers from 2010.
$3 for a single 30 minute GoBike trip is expensive? 15 minutes on a Bird Scooter is $3.55. The GoBike stations are fairly dense you might have to walk a block or two. https://member.fordgobike.com/map/
The GoBike is a joke. You have to pedal insanely hard just to go half the speed of a normal, cheap bike. The components are just awful, and the stations aren't that great either.
As a user of both, the Scooter experience is 50x better. Just not even on the same level. I agree some regulation is needed to prevent massive clutter and keep the sidewalks safe, but I've had zero issues with people while a rider, or with riders while a pedestrian.
Dockless bikes are $1 per 30 mins... having one 20 feet from you vs two blocks is a qualitative difference. And zoom out on that map – the GoBikes only cover one small part of the city.
Nevermind the ceaseless free ride promos, and Ofo offering an hour for a buck. I don't see how being more expensive and less convenient is competitive in the transportation sector.
