Rental Bikes Popping up En Masse in Cities All Over the World in 2018

Encourage, Don't Hamper, Green Solutions

It's Green! It's Electric! Part of an Active Lifestyle.

But San Francisco is basically banning E-Scooters after complaints by some pedestrians who think the riders are "very rude." With all the transportation challenges SF has, does this seem like the right focus??   It is more or less being shut down because SF is impounding most of these scooters.

This has already been tried in China with varying success, but bad actor renters among the many who have rented are causing some grief, where those riders leave the scooter in the wrong places after using it. If that could be solved... but this is like trying to solve bad human behavior by going after a company who can't control the behavior of the users/renters. It would be akin to going after AVIS car rentals when their customers park in the wrong places, speed, or block a bike lane, etc.   We have a law enforcement solution for that: called getting a ticket.  Scooter riders could get a ticket. It could be part of the rental agreement too.

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I think punishing companies is the wrong approach. Cities need to PLAN BETTER FACILITIES for parking bikes or scooters, if they are going to actively encourage people to get out of their cars!  This is exactly what many involved with Transportation policy and planning are trying to do, get people out of their cars to make it more safe, more green... I believe it would be more helpful to find ways to accommodate and encourage entrepreneurs thinking outside of that box... not punishing them because of a few loose ends.

If e scooters are deemed a safety issue, there are surely more important safety issues that need to be solved first, like truly doing things to eliminate the 37,000+ fatalities with vehicles every single year in the USA.

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www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-s-scooter-skirmish-City-escalates-battle-12849499.php#photo-15423376

The SOLUTION seems easy enough:

Many cities are impatiently shutting down bike sharing companies, confiscating their bikes and impounding them, because of bike or scooter clutter after some users leave them in undesirable areas.  And some residents have an aversion to something new that is left around like clutter.

The solution seems easy.  The Bike Rental Companies can have these renters return the bikes to an appropriate area or face a steep surcharge (like 50 bucks on their credit card).  Then the company can have their staff come pick up the rental bike immediately after the $50 charge, and get it relocated to an appropriate parking area. EASY!

NEXT!!!

Here's a video of a NEW YORKER sharing his experience comparing

New York's' citibike program to riding a taxi,
or having your own bike...