KCPowercat wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 9:13 pm
I think the biggest frustration scooter advocates have especially in KC is there aren't a ton of safe places infrastructure wise and driver courtesy wise to ride them safely. That pushes unconfident riders onto the sidewalks where nobody wants them.
All the while the media reports come flooding in about how dangerous scooters are for the click through story where non scooter riders can point and laugh at that damn 20 year old that was "probably going to fast and not wearing s helmet". No real coverage of why and how the situation can be improved for all modes of transportation.
Are there idiot users who go too fast and act a fool and do what they aren't supposed to? Sure but we've been letting people drive like that for decades now and nobody seems to want to ban cars.
This is what I was getting at. Technology and our social acceptance of a technology are connected. A technology enables doing something because of how it is and people have problems with that. Eventually we figure out the best way to live with the technology and everything is fine.
There's still laws on the books in the US banning wearing headsets while crossing the street, dating back to the walkman introduction. There were actually news articles blaming the downfall of society on people wearing headphones.
Glow before you go is one symptom of this. It shifts the blame to a specific use case around technology (cars) because our societal norms for cars haven't shifted yet in KC.
For the record, I said nothing about a ban or anything. I just don't want to see anyone get mangled by an Escalade or have their skull split open on a curb, for their sake and mine.
Looks to be downtown only. Hard to tell but looks like 100-200 Spin scooters to start of 500 allowed.
$1 unlock, 15 cents/min. Bird is now 33 cents/min. Will Bird drop rates?
Wonder when Drop scooters launch. The eBike count has been growing quite a bit since Spring, down to Waldo now. Also, Drop service area has expanded to I435 loop around S and E and to stadiums. So essentially approx inside I435 loop within Jackson County, still no Northland.
Do any of the scooter companies just swap the battery pack instead of the whole scooter? Seems to be a much more efficient way to do it, but would mean Chargers would need to have several batteries onhand.
earthling wrote: ↑Fri Jun 28, 2019 4:26 pm
Do any of the scooter companies just swap the battery pack instead of the whole scooter? Seems to be a much more efficient way to do it, but would mean Chargers would need to have several batteries onhand.
Nope. The swappable battery throws off the center of gravity.
Not following, if the battery snaps and locks into notches or battery holding dock, shouldn't be an issue.
The logistics of battery tracking management might be though. And suppose that swapping batteries means that scooters wouldn't be 'reset' to regular morning locations. Would be surprising if one scooter company hasn't tried at least in one market as the efficiency for Chargers would be worth it.
Chargers wouldn't need a large vehicle and space at home to charge many scooters. Any Charger could do several dozen every night. They could have quick access extra batteries charging from their car.
Bird now 33 cents/min. Spin 15. Drop hasn't listed pricing yet.
Dave, yeah am saying removable battery could still snap into place on stem. Seems worth trying to figure out a way to make battery swapping work whatever the challenges are.