KCRag Forum

earthling wrote:Looks like they are spreading outside of downtown a bit - one currently in KCK and 4 E of Costco. Appears to be Bcycle office and they are nearly fully charged. Is Bcycle collaborating?

Maybe they signed up to be Chargers?

Yeah, that's what I was implying. If profitable, wouldn't be surprising if Bcycle buys them.

Biz Journal piece..

A complaint I heard several times, however, was that there are a few city-enforced rules you have to agree to before using the scooter, which were not all followed by the Bird users I saw. You must be at least 18, have a valid driver's license, wear a helmet and ride on the street. Whether or not these rules actually will be enforced, however, is unclear.

https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/ ... -city.html

I think the reporter has her facts wrong.

Those are unenforced Bird rules, so far as I know – vehicles are same in every city. KCMO has made zero public guidance for these – given the vehicles blur a line within current regulations.
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earthling wrote:Yeah, that's what I was implying. If profitable, wouldn't be surprising if Bcycle buys them.

Maybe – don't underestimate the human & technology logistics required for these. Each scooter is collected and charged nightly & back out by early AM.

I see that bird.co uses a pic of the KC skyline.

earthling wrote:The Bird app shows 50+ scooters (maybe over 70) in Greater Downtown area but none in Midtown/Westport/Plaza area. Maybe they'll migrate naturally? Or would they move them back downtown if found elsewhere?

They dropped 100 today. They'll do more if they average 3 rides/scooter/day.

Also, merged this with the Urban Core thread. Scooters are transportation!

DaveKCMO wrote:

earthling wrote:The Bird app shows 50+ scooters (maybe over 70) in Greater Downtown area but none in Midtown/Westport/Plaza area. Maybe they'll migrate naturally? Or would they move them back downtown if found elsewhere?

They dropped 100 today. They'll do more if they average 3 rides/scooter/day.

Yeah it did look to be closer to 100 on the app map even though says 50+. There were several around Plaza/Southmoreland yesterday and up near downtown NKC but as expected all were moved back downtown by morning given the way Charger nest method works. Over 300 rides/day seems to be happening given the on/off action on the map every minute or two so expansion to where they often find scooters outside DT seems realistic at some point.

Also, merged this with the Urban Core thread. Scooters are transportation!

So shouldn't it go to the Transportation section?

Collison on Bird...
https://cityscenekc.com/bird-arrives-do ... ntroversy/

DaveKCMO wrote:

earthling wrote:The Bird app shows 50+ scooters (maybe over 70) in Greater Downtown area but none in Midtown/Westport/Plaza area. Maybe they'll migrate naturally? Or would they move them back downtown if found elsewhere?

They dropped 100 today. They'll do more if they average 3 rides/scooter/day.

Also, merged this with the Urban Core thread. Scooters are transportation!

Put these in Midtown and you will get ridership. I cannot wait to be able to scoot down to the plaza or crossroads with these things. Just wish you could use them past 9PM.

They were planning for the Plaza, but we talked them out of it for now because of the bike share experience there (don't put them on "our property" or we'll cut the cables and throw them in the creek). I suspect they'll be adding more before too long, plus additional operators are coming...

Who do I need to talk to at these companies to publically say they won't put them in Westport due to the wonky private sidewalk sitch?

FYI Lime scooters operate later hours + larger battery than Birds.

bspecht wrote:FYI Lime scooters operate later hours + larger battery than Birds.

Is there anywhere the "hours" are published? Noticed they were all gone around 9:30 last night. How am I supposed to get home!?! *beer emoji*

bspecht wrote:FYI Lime scooters operate later hours + larger battery than Birds.

Looked up Lime scooters and found they can reach up to 35+ miles per charge compared to 15 miles for Bird depending on terrain and weight of riders. Is nice that the Bird app shows % charge. If one is low but only one near you, could always ride it to another scooter between pickup spot and destination, though extra dollar burned (would be nice if they allow switching scooters within a few minutes as it's likely due to an issue). A 10% charge (Bird) would likely get at least a mile. I wonder how much charge is burned going up West Bottoms bluff to downtown or downtown up to midtown for avg weight person?

Here's a comparison of services...
https://www.cnet.com/news/electric-scoo ... pin-scoot/

Spot checking usage around 3PM compared to yesterday around same time, usage appears to be higher today. Yesterday the map changed states about once every 1-3 minutes, now it's showing at least 1/minute up to 3-4/minute (not often). Voltage levels also lower on avg implying more usage. A couple have made it down to UMKC/Plaza area already. Maybe not enough sampling and usage was slower in morning but if this holds up, there shouldn't be any issues with expansion if only needing 300 rides/day. Dave, any chance you can get daily usage numbers?

The one I dropped this morning hasn't moved....I feel personally bad about that.

earthling wrote:Dave, any chance you can get daily usage numbers?

All I'm at liberty to say is that their KC launch was impressive.

That surprises me.

I think expansion through Midtown/Plaza needs to happen. UMKC seems like it could be a great market.

Hopefully the number of rides necessitates the additional scooters, but if not, I would hope they might consider moving some of the "nests" to spread the system a bit. It looks like the ones around 18th and Vine aren't getting used at all and could be candidates for relocation.

Bird just had to remove their scooters from Indianapolis. Maybe they should just bring them here.

It's Day 2 – let's give both Bird & users some time. They have an infinite number of scooters they can deploy, if demand dictates.