Modern Vespa

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/transportation/ct-biz-scooter-pilot-ends-getting-around-20191014-5nxdx42jsbex7brh6fzgyebfui-story.html

Ouch.

I have been wondering how long it will take before they become outlawed in tampa. Its shocking to me how it changed downtown tampa. they are everywhere. and very clear its mainly a young crowd riding for pleasure with no real regard for how dangerous that actually are. they ride with no rules. no way it can persist if I had to guess.

I have a feeling the whole issue of electric vehicles is going to come to a head eventually. I clocked a young man on a flat road on a pedal assist electric bicycle doing 40 mph. DMV's and Police everywhere are going to want them licensed soon. Why buy a 50cc scooter when you can go as fast without insurance and registration and park wherever you want.

Having just been on a Mediterranean cruise hitting Italy, Greece, Israel, and several other places and living in Chicago it seems that those electric scooters and bikes are everywhere and while I believe there are supposed to be rules, no one follows them. No one wears helmets, and they ride wherever they want, streets, bike paths , sidewalks, and even though there are age restrictions I do not think that anyone follows them, and I have heard of a lot of accidents from them, and I do not see it changing in the near future. There is just too much money to be made from them, it will interesting to see what happens.


larry

They are a coming item for my nearest city, Lexington, KY. I, like many wonder about safety of many riders & pedestrians too on whats said to be a 15-30 MPH electric scooter ridden by someone with no endorsement or training? Do the helmets have cooties? They say the scooter rental Co's get fined if the scoots are lying in an unsafe spot.
It will not be pretty IMO.

There are prevalent in Cincinnati, and I refuse to use one. The reason I refuse to use one is I frequently see the scooters dropped in not-picked-up dog poo, and there have been many incidents of vandalism of cutting brake lines.

Every time I think to use one... I keep on walking. Why drop a 40 minute walk to 20 minutes for five bucks? I'd rather hail and Uber or Lyft.

By all estimates and indications, the companies that own the scooters are probably losing money on them. Evidently they only last a month or two before they break. The cost, both in money, and hydrocarbons burned, in retrieving, charging and restationing them, makes them neither economically or ecologically sound. Locally there is zero enforcement on where or how they are ridden, or where they can be parked, making them a nuisance and a hazard for pedestrians. When legally ridden on streets they are a traffic obstruction. The majority of riders are using them for recreation, not transportation, so they do not in any significant way replace other forms of transportation.

But the city is getting license fees to allow them, so I expect they will continue.

I've been looking into getting an e-bike, as I live near our downtown, and could avoid parking hassles and fees. But prices for quality ones are comparable to a regular gas-powered scooter. If I can find a decent one for around $1K, I'll most likely get one. Even the conversion kits are around $1.5K which seems unreasonable for a battery, motor, and controls. But then paying $5K for a bicycle is completely unreasonable in my mind.