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Bad news for town lake


AustinBike

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This is my daily workout, down around the lake and back, about 18 miles round trip, always been a great way to kill some time and keep in shape. Earlier this year they put up the "no motorized vehicles" sign to keep the scooters off the trail. This afternoon I saw 2 guys from park police and asked them when are they going to start enforcing that because the scooter situation is getting out of control.

They aren't. And it gets worse. Starting on 12/1 they are going into a 1 year "pilot program" of allowing scooters on town lake trails. 

Fuuuuuuuu.......dge.

Get ready to start dodging frat bros and douchebags on scooters racing through the trail. They did impress upon me the need to call 311 any time we see idiots going too far (i.e. racing, weaving in and out of people, knocking into people, being general idiots, etc.) Those complaints will get registered, it's our only way to show the impact.

Brace yourselves, scooters are coming.

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It was a stupid idea to ever allow unleashed dogs on the trails at Walnut Creek and City of Austin knew that this was a bad idea from Day 1. Scooters on the trail around Lady Bird Lake is a bad idea, and it won't get better.  There will be collisions, because on certain days, the trail is packed with walkers, runners, dog walkers and bike riders.  The tiny wheels on the scooters will also get bogged down and the scooters won't be very stable  in some places where the trail is unpaved and they can go way too fast on areas of the trail that are paved.  

Oh well. 

I was at a Bike Texas meeting a few weeks ago and Robin Stallings was falling all over himself about how wonderful e bikes are because he owns one and uses it to commute, so Bike Texas (essentially a lobbying organization with Robin as the lobbyist) will be pushing hard for access for e bikes on paths. 

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IMO, if traffic on the trail is low enough for bikes, it is fine for scooters as well. That trail pinches down pretty narrow in quite a few spots, to the point where, on a busy day, it isn't worth my time to try to ride a bike through it. Ringing a bell through a thick wad of runners, walkers and baby stroller pushers is a recipe for douchedom. 

I've seen bikers blasting through there, endangering foot traffic. So, yes, I expect scooter riders to also include a few dumbasses.

I know people hate the scooters and rental bikes but I think they'll eventually be another mode of transport to get people out of cars. In Texas during the summer, I can either take a car or sweat my ass off pedaling a bike or walking somewhere. A small electric vehicle brings another option. 

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11 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

Heard it on the radio that this is going to be at all Austin City Parks.  E-bikes and scooters on the trails.  They mentioned north and south walnut creek trails but it wasn't clear if this includes off-road trails or just groomed trails.  I can't find any info on it.

All we can hope is that the scooter companies all go belly up. Once they run out of their VC cushion they'll come up with the unfortunate truth that their business models are unsustainable. Literally. They need to be rounded up each night, charged, and then redeployed every morning. There is no way this is viable when you consider the high capital cost of entry and the high operational costs. Hopefully the demise will happen quickly.

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All we can hope is that the scooter companies all go belly up. Once they run out of their VC cushion they'll come up with the unfortunate truth that their business models are unsustainable. Literally. They need to be rounded up each night, charged, and then redeployed every morning. There is no way this is viable when you consider the high capital cost of entry and the high operational costs. Hopefully the demise will happen quickly.
I saw a financial model and they are very viable

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I'd be interested in seeing this, exclusive of any VC/angel funding. 

Right now the models seem primed for implosion. The charging piece is especially troubling: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/charging-electric-scooters-is-a-cutthroat-business/560747/

Just wait until people start doing the math on this. It is similar to being an Uber driver. In the early days people were very hung ho, great way to make money. Then they started cracking down on the drivers, it was harder to make money. Then the real costs started to show through in wear and tear on cars, insurance riders, etc. Eventually people started to realize that the primo side hustle was closer to minimum wage than they had imagined.

Give it time on the "wranglers". It is coming. As the economics tighten on the companies, the rewards will start to fall off. And that is when things turn inwards.


There is room for one scooter company, maybe 2 (more like 1.5). Definitely not 3. 

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8 minutes ago, AustinBike said:

 

Right now the models seem primed for implosion. The charging piece is especially troubling: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/05/charging-electric-scooters-is-a-cutthroat-business/560747/

Just wait until people start doing the math on this. It is similar to being an Uber driver. In the early days people were very hung ho, great way to make money. Then they started cracking down on the drivers, it was harder to make money. Then the real costs started to show through in wear and tear on cars, insurance riders, etc. Eventually people started to realize that the primo side hustle was closer to minimum wage than they had imagined.

 

This^

 

It just seems a bit chaotic and difficult to have a line of sight on your product. But hey, who doesn't love stepping over this???????

 

sf-scooter-clutter.jpg

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The first time I went to Negril (west end of Jamaica) was in 1972. There were pretty much only small motel-like places to stay... And just a couple of them. The only foreigners you'd fine were some hardcore American hippies and a few Europeans. Oh yes... And a few people on the run from the law. Seven miles of beautiful white sand beach and the clearest light blue water found anywhere in the world, way out in the middle of nowhere.

Paradise.

But as the Eagles said... Call somewhere paradise, you can kiss it goodbye.

The last thirty years of vacation resort development in Negril has overwhelmed the infrastructure and local society.

Sure... People make money... Lots and lots of money.

Which then brings in more and more people trying to make some of that lots and lots of money.

Which then caused those who were already established in Negril to become offended by those just coming in.

And around and around it goes... Where it will end... No one really knows.
 


The old days...

jamaica-negril-beach-hippies-sundown-1972.jpg


Then came the new days...

RNEG-slider-20160829.jpg

negril.jpg

Edited by RidingAgain
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46 minutes ago, ATXZJ said:

This^

 

It just seems a bit chaotic and difficult to have a line of sight on your product. But hey, who doesn't love stepping over this???????

 

sf-scooter-clutter.jpg

I think they'll start doing a better job of educating their users on etiquette, traffic safety, traffic laws, etc. Either that or they'll end up with a pile of city ordinances in a thousand different places. I was a Pinthouse on Saturday and people had filled up the front patio, cruiser bikes were all over the placed, tucked into the tables, on the sidewalk. Again, it's not the scooters, it's the humans and humans can and do screw up this sort of thing all the time.

 

 

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Scooters don’t bother me; I find them entertaining to watch.

 

Dogs at walnut don’t bother me unless they are fighting in the creek and owners won’t or can’t break them up, therefore your dog doesn’t belong in the park. I will and do break them up.

 

I have enough pride in my neighborhood, and respect for handicap that I will line the scooters up or move them out of the way.

 

I take more issue with the bikes. They are an eyesore and just thrown everywhere with no one that moves them. There was one in the bushes in town lake for three weeks. I never go around to moving it...

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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2 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I'd be all for scooters if I thought they are replacing a car trip...but I think like ride "share" they are not replacing car-trips. I think scooters are replacing walking, maybe cycling.

The Bike Share companies are taking  losses, likely because of the scooters.  Was in The Statesman today or yesterday.  It's absolutely replacing walking and cycling.  Some kid was moving them enough to set off the alarm and then moving on to the next one on Saturday, it was pretty entertaining to watch.

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I'm torn on the scooters.

In general the people riding them have no clue and just asking for a minor to major injury. The scooters when not in use are at best clutter and are even expanding into North Austin and I even saw some within 1/2 mile of Brushy Creek in my neighborhood! Where are they going on them??!?! Downtown Round Rock?!

On the other hand, my wife and I rode them a bit around San Antonio and they were very handy for minimal cost. As a tourist they were mildly useful and fun. If I lived/ worked in the city I'd defiantly consider them for daily commute.

They are banned on the San Antonio River Walk, which I 100% agree with. After walking Town Lake with strollers and elderly family members I have no problem with the overconfident but competent commuter/roadie but they unwashed masses on tiny-wheeled scooters is just asking for trouble. 

2018-11-27 13_27_33-Window.jpg

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I looked up Subchapter C of the Texas Transportation Code.  What am I missing? What applies is Austin codes anyway.

image.thumb.png.b20166c35690ebae4dc546432a78cc11.png

To be honest, those things look like fun and they seem to have little impact on the trail.  They are not high torque by nature of the fact that it has a single wheel, so they cannot apply high torque.  The guys look like they're working hard balancing.  It looks like surfing on land.  My biggest fear is if they decide that less roots or rocks would be better.  Will wait for the 29er version. 

Edit:  I just caught their promo video which shows someone doing what equates to a burnout on dirt.

Edited by AntonioGG
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