#urban-commuter-touring folding bike | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

emperformance · 2 years ago

Text

What Are Various Kinds Of Bicycles In The Market?

Cycling is one of the most popular and versatile sports to indulge in. You can alter its intensity and ease of riding. Numerous kinds of cycles suit various terrains and agendas. Some are designed for smooth long-distance rides, while others are built for stunts and competitive racing.

More than 100 million cycles are manufactured every year. They have a long and chequered history dating nearly 600 years ago. Cycles designs have evolved with major innovations that dramatically changed their features and forms.

You can choose among the many designs of cycles based on what you intend to use it for and the features and fittings of the cycle that appeal to you.

Following are some of the top choices among different types of cycles:

City cycles

As the name implies, city cycles allude to urban Ebikes. City bikes are created with a focus on urban roads that are typically smooth terrain to offer an easy pedalling experience that enables you to glide about without much effort. These cycles are for you if you wish to commute to work with ease. These bikes are easy modes of transport and permit you to incorporate your daily dose of exercise. In case you enjoy stamina-focused workouts in your daily routine, cycling can serve as an exciting option.

Hybrid cycles

Hybrid cycles are built to cater to both city and off-road biking conditions. Such bikes have bigger, padded seats and a comfortable handlebar position which offers the best experience of cycling in both terrains. Tyres are typically medium-sized and feature semi-smooth tread, which offers adequate cushioning for uneven surfaces. You can ride these bikes on unpaved trails as well as paved roads. but these bikes do not have the capacity to handle the rough terrains of mountain paths.

Off-road cycles/ mountain bikes

These cycles are designed for mountain trails and rough terrains. Such cycles typically feature flat handlebars as well as a low range of gears for comfortable pedalling on highly steep, hilly pathways. These bikes have high-quality shock absorbers and suspensions. Mountain bikes with front absorption are called Hardtails, while those with both rear and front full- suspension are called Fullfull-suspension bikes. Rigid bikes are off-road cycles with no suspension. you love adventure and

challenges, mountain bikes are ideal for you.

Folding bikes

Such cycles are among the most compact bicycles in the current market. A folding bike can be folded into a compact package and can be easily carried while riding public transport or when entering buildings. Such models of cycles are perfect for persons who desire to travel long distances with their cycles. At best, such cycles are very lightweight and have extremely small wheels. In case you have to travel part of your daily commute in public transport or cabs, you can carry your folding bike right along and cycle to your destination the rest of the way.

Road bikes

They are best identified by their turned-down handlebars, as well as skinny tires. The handlebars that are curving downwards are typically super lightweight, which helps put you in an aerodynamic situation. The lightweight frame renders this cycle especially good for numerous uses like touring, racing, long-distance riding, daily commuting, and fitness riding.

The big and thin tires of such bikes allow you to cruise along various terrains with zero to low effort. If n case you are obsessed with speed, road bikes might be the best fit for you.

Touring bike

They are just like regular bikes but have been tweaked with special features meant to suit long rides. Touring bikes are equipped with points where you can attach water bottles, lights, racks, pumps, and fenders. They also have super-sturdy frames, which permit them to carry heavy loads on both rear and front racks. Most touring bikes feature disc brakes which offer improved stopping power, especially on non-paved roads. A special feature of such cycles is their wide tires which are specially designed to navigate gravel roads.

Track/ fixed gear bikes

Often called ‘fixies’, Track or Fixed gear bikes are mainly used by athletes and racers, who train for the professional, competitive sport of cycle racing. As the name suggests, the main feature of such bikes is that they contain a single, fixed gear. This implies that you cannot use them for freewheeling or coasting.

Thus, riders have to use the strength of their legs to stop turning the cranks of such bikes and further stop their motion. Such bikes may feature many brakes and different styles of handlebars. They typically need their cyclists to spin their legs in constant circles to operate at a higher cadence.

Recumbent bike

This bicycle is non-traditional and needs one to sit in a lower seat to the ground and resembles a chair. These bikes feature several configurations: short to long wheel-bases, various kinds of 2, 3, or 4 wheelers, and above/ under-seat steering. A special feature that is deemed as a drawback to this cycle is that because of its design, you cannot stand while pedalling up hilly terrain.

BMX

This is an acronym for Bicycle Motor Cross. This is mainly because such a bike is a single-speed bike that can be raced around small dirt tracks similar to other motorsports. BMX is a term used for any bike with 20-inch wheels and a single speed.

Such bikes are ideal for those who wish to perform jumps and tricks with their bikes since they are especially built for this, with a durable and robust structure and design. They feature small frames, 20-inch wheels, and single gear, which make them strong and low maintenance.

E-bikes

These bikes feature an electric motor that can be charged by plugging into a regular electric outlet. This motor offers much support when you pedal and is highly useful when you go fast or in uphill terrain. There are different e-bikes available in the market. Electric versions are mostly available in types like hybrid bikes, road bikes, and mountain bikes.

Cyclocross bikes

These are designed especially for racing around a dirt trail which comprises various blockages and obstacles found at regular intervals. Such bikes are super lightweight for carrying them and tough and sturdy for handling obstacles.

In sum, cyclists are some of the most exciting adventurers and commuters. Cycles are not only environment friendly but a refreshing source for an routine exercise. Whatever be your agenda, you can opt from among so many different designs and types.

#Best Electric Bike in India #Electric Bikes #Emotorad #Electric Bicycle #electric cycles

1 note · View note

flash-impact-for-good · 4 years ago

Text

A world tour of innovations for urban bicycle riding

Image from S. Hermann & F. Richter

This article travels the world to see how cities, companies, and start-ups are fostering the use of bicycles for personal transportation and delivery of goods.

We are gradually getting out from quarantine, getting around on errands, and commuting back to work. Riding a bicycle is a good alternative to respect physical distancing while getting back in shape after several weeks of staying at home.

This time may be a chance for an environmentally friendly mode of transportation to strive in busy cities. Still, there are many issues to address: public space availability, safety, comfort, maintenance, and parking. Let’s see how different parts of the world are tackling these issues.

Environmental benefits

Freight and personal transportation is responsible for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions [1]. Environmentally, a bicycle is a symbol of decarbonized transportation and sustainable cities. Bicycles are an eco-friendly means of transportation that requires no fossil fuels.

As an energy-efficient form of transportation, bicycle uses renewable human power in the most efficient way compared to other alternatives to move people and product from point A to point B: there are no greenhouse gas emissions emitted per km on a bike compared to 220g of CO2eq per km in a car [2].

Safe bike lanes

Cycling is an efficient way of using scarce space in urban areas. However, governments and cities have been struggling to give more space to bicycles. This is a chicken and egg problem. There are not enough bicycles to reserve them space and there are not enough bike lanes for bike riding to go mainstream.

Now everything has changed. Many cities across the world have created additional dedicated bike lanes post Covid-19.

The UK government has put forward a £2 billion package to foster cycling and walking. Pop-up bike lanes with protected space for cycling, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors will be created.

Bogota, the capital city of Columbia stands 12th in 2019 Copenhagenize index, which ranks bicycle-friendly cities. Bogota has extended its formerly Sunday only Ciclovia program to all days of the week and added 80 km of bike lanes to its 550 km of existing ones.

In New York City, officials have announced that up to 100 miles of streets will have extended bike lanes and sidewalks.

There are precautions cyclists need to adhere to in order to make their commute as safe and stress-free as possible: knowing the route in advance, being alert of the environment, putting a helmet on, wearing reflective clothing, and having appropriate lighting to be seen on the road.

Secured parking

Where and how can you confidently park your bicycle knowing it will not be stolen, or damaged by weather, and will not disturb pedestrian traffic? Parking is indeed also an issue. The cities are struggling to keep up with the demand and manage sometimes anarchic parking.

In the Netherlands, a giant bike parking facility is conveniently located directly next to Utrecht Central Station, Stationsplein. It caters space for 12,500 bikes.

Automated underground bicycle parking systems are popular in China and Japan. The machinery frees up space on the surface. One system can hold 200 bikes. To see it working, watch this “futuristic” video.

When you can’t park or when you want to travel longer distances, you may take your bike with you in a bus or a train. This can prove difficult in busy public transit. The region of Seattle has found a solution. Bikes can be installed at the front of buses.

Bicycles on buses in Seattle

Access to bikes

First things first. You need a bike. There are many ways to get one, from buying to rental or leasing.

Most large cities now have bike rental services. Rental systems can be with fixed stations or dockless, whereby bikes can be left anywhere.

Itaú’by Tembici in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Santiago or Velib by Smovengo in Paris both provide traditional and electric bikes. Riders park them at pre-defined spaces in bike stations.

Free Float bike rental has suffered from theft and damage. Few are still operating. Among them Dott in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Poland, Mobike in China.

Tembici bike stations in São Paulo

Electric bicycles or e-bikes participate in making bike mainstream. Less effort is needed to drive longer distances or carry stuff and you can stay fresh after riding your bike. However, electric bikes come at a hefty price compared to traditional ones: €500 to €3000 for an electric bike compared to as low as €200 for a traditional one.

Leasing models make electric bikes more affordable. Such a model is rolled out by the Dutch company, Swapfiets in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. For €75 per month, you get an electric bike of your own with the additional benefit of including repair and maintenance.

Repair and maintenance

The rental and leasing models leave the hassle of repairing and maintaining to the lessor or the rental company: a big advantage. Repairing a flat tire, adjusting brakes or derailleur, or tightening the chains are common tasks of the everyday cyclist. They are not easy when you are not into “do it yourself” or are not equipped with the proper tools (and need to stay clean in your business attire).

Going to the nearest bike shop is an obvious choice. Alternatively, you may rely on online platform that puts you in contact with a technician that comes and repairs your bike at your place. Cyclofix or Repair and Run are such services operating in major cities in France.

Bikes for all needs

Bikes, once all similar now come in very different shapes to cater to various needs: design and performance, delivery of goods, kid transportation, and city commuting.

The number of electric bike firms is growing. High-end ones compete on design and functionalities.

Angell bikes come with a secured system against theft and modern and slick design.

One of the models of Moustache Bikes provides an ultra-low stepover frame that makes it easy to get on and off the saddle at each red light in the town.

Vanmoof bikes include automatic electronic gear shifting and integrated anti-theft technology.

A removable battery built seamlessly into the frame is Cowboys bikes’ signature detail.

In addition to these high-end electric bikes, you can find cargo bikes designed to transport children, carry your groceries or deliver a product to e-commerce customers: to name a few Italian Measy, French Douze Cycles, Dutch Urban Arrow or California based Yuba bikes.

Finally, folding bikes such as those of British Brompton are useful if you have limited storage place. It also makes multi-modal transportation possible.

Bikes at the office

Riding a bike to work is what 62% of Copenhagen citizens do every day. Without the appropriate infrastructure at work (parking space, storage space, showers, bike-friendly culture), it can be hard to change habits. Luckily, more and more employers are working hard to foster bike commuting, a more reliable, healthy, and environmentally friendly alternative to driving.

Companies may provide for a bike fleet in addition to or replacement to a car fleet. Start-ups have emerged to help organizations set-up and manage such fleets such as the French Zenride or Green On.

Beyond cities

Innovation and progress are happening all over the world to foster bike riding as a mode of transportation.

Give it a try. Riding a bike brings back a sense of freedom to a daily commute. No need to have the exotic expensive bikes and gear to be a cyclist. In addition, a bike will help you rediscover the joy of stepping out of the door and exploring your surroundings like the breathtaking roads of Cormet de Roselend.

Corinne Bach, MBA INSEAD 05D Entrepreneur in ecological transition

Recap of innovations

References

[1] Fifth assessment report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2014, summary for Policymakers, and technical summary.

[2] There are different greenhouse gas. Their warming power as well as their persistence in the atmosphere are very different. Scientists have defined an equivalent between the different greenhouse gas and CO2. This way, greenhouse gas emissions can be expressed in one common unit, i.e., gram CO2 equivalent (g CO2eq). CO2 has been chosen as it represents three-quarters of total greenhouse gas emissions released in the atmosphere each year.

This article was posted in June 2020 on Transition Route - Ecological transition blog for resilient businesses

#insead #inseadforgood #BusinessForGood #Riding #SmartCity #ClimateChange #Green #EcologicalTransition

1 note · View note

nickgerlich · 6 years ago

Text

Get On Your Bike And Ride

What goes around comes around. Before the car, people rode bicycles everywhere. In fact, it was because of efforts by the cycling community that the Good Roads Movement was launched more than a century ago, the goal being to provide better, safer, more consistent roadways for cycling, particularly in towns.

But cars changed all that, and car culture ensued. Cycling became a plaything for kids, and recreation for adults committed to competition, touring, and general fitness.

Times have changed again, though, and cycling is now finding its way back to the front burner. Peer-to-peer bikeshare programs are now in place in dozens of US cities, plus many more worldwide. These include the first-gen units that had to be docked, as well as newer ones that are dockless and can be parked anywhere, waiting for the next customer to come along and pay for a ride. They and their scooter cousins have achieved rapid acceptance, and become quite common among urban commuters and folks simply needing to make a quick jaunt across town.

Concurrent with all of this is the introduction of e-bikes, primarily for users not wanting to break a sweat. Generally speaking, they are electric with pedal assist, meaning you can pedal if you want to. They too have rapidly become popular as an urban transportation alternative.

Unfortunately, the technology involved in placing a small power source in a bicycle frame tube caught the attention of some pro racers. They were caught, and now authorities scrutinize every bike on the pro circuit. And you thought Lance Armstrong was a bad boy for doping.

But I digress.

Sometimes crazy things happen in marketing, and after all this preamble, here’s the big news: General Motors is entering the bicycle business, with an e-bike introduction set for 2019. The bikes will come in two models, a compact one, and one that can be folded for easy toting or storage at the office and home, or to carry on a bus or train when traveling intermodal. Both will feature smaller than normal wheels.

GM has not yet released details on pricing, nor exactly how it will sell these, leaving people to wonder if they will have to visit a GM auto dealer, or their local bike shop. Given that bikes of this type are not cheap, they probably will not be found at Walmart and Target.

Now I must say that the hard-core cyclist in me would never ever, and I mean never ever, consider using an e-bike to get around. That’s just not cycling in my book. It’s a baby version of a motorcycle. But that’s just me. I’ll stick with my traditional human-powered models, while you and everyone else can consider these.

And to be fair, I think they will continue to sell well, because many motorists have just grown weary of commuting by auto. Bicycles, no matter how they are powered, get you to the door just as well as walking, but faster. They can then be carried and tucked away; they also work perfectly as last-mile solutions from train or bus stations.

But here’s another idea to consider, and one that suggests to me these bikes will be available at GM dealers: they will fit nicely into any auto, even the smallest. Here’s the idea: Drive your car to a remote parking lot, and then cycle into to town the remaining mileage. You can park for a lot less away from center city, and you will avoid the worst of the vehicular congestion. Bikes can wiggle through traffic much faster than cars.

I’ve saved one important item for last, and that is what the hell is GM, an auto maker, doing dabbling in a competing product? Are they trying to put themselves out of business? No. These e-bikes are perfectly compatible with commuting, as I mentioned a moment ago. That’s another way of saying that GM may be able to sell more, not less.

Meanwhile, here’s hope for the continued bicycle re-revolution, even if it took more than a century. Because the wheels on the bike go round and round.

Dr “Two-Wheeled Transit Authority“ Gerlich

Audio: https://soundcloud.com/nickgerlich/get-on-your-bike-and-ride

#marketing #bicycles #cycling #commuting #GM

3 notes · View notes

paulvannoy5 · 4 years ago

Text

Razor Mx350 Electric Dirt Bike Review

Motorcycles; as soon as the subject is brought inside the picture which comes to brain is guys in black leather jackets, motorcycle boots, helmets and gloves straddling an immense motorized motorcycle. We think of the inventors in West Side Story, the Hell's Angels, and today's middle-agers riding their new Harleys.

When eBikes were first introduced in the UK many were large, heavy and clumsy looking things. They've come a long way since then. eBikes now come in an amazing amount of shapes and sizes, from dutch touring styles, to folding travel bikes, all the way to sporty carbon fibre models choose the Storck Raddar Multiroad. With some of the ebikes its difficult even see it is an ebike!

The in order to this quandary? Why, the electric folding bike, of course, providing ultra efficient urban trip. When paired with public transit, the folding bikes cannot be beat. Commuters ride their bikes towards subway station or bus stop, then quickly, quietly fold the bikes, taking them easily onto the vehicle. Then when they get off, the bikes quickly unfold and off to work.

There fantastic for sense of freedom that comes with make use of of of an electrical bike. Do not make the error of confusing it using a scooter or moped given it is no ! the same task. There are many laws that treat them all the same though when you consider that the Electric Road Motorcycle NZ bike is motorized. Whether or not this is situation you can be required to offer insurance and registration papers for your bike. Really seriously . the associated with thing 1 needs to know before purchasing an electric bike.

Another question people find out electric bikes is, construct a you need pedals if you have had a motor unit? Well, modern electric bikes, such as you move the Salisbury LPX, can switch between three modes: normal cycling - in a person use because a 'normal' bike; 'pedal assisted' - you still use the pedals however the motor helps out, making it less fatiguing; and 'motor only' - where essentially twist the grip and enable the motor go ahead and take strain.

Electric mopeds or electric motorcycles are good for fall color rides on routes of rural or forest roads in a person want take a trip a longer distance. You're still close to nature as well as the colors but have the skills and safety features to travel farther and faster. My ride of is the e-bike that offers me the best of all with the options.

Of course bikers in order to ride. Just a few of you might think that excellent stupid in what they are wearing but it's really simple that comfort goes first than condition. Just like how soccer players' fight to depend as well as and how race car drivers battle to win a race, bikers also combat against wind resistance. With these outfits and attires it makes them more at ease to ride in whatever pressure of wind is awaiting these.

0 notes

coachlydia · 8 years ago

Text

Can E-Bikes Turn UK in to Cycling Nation ?

on the stand of Velorution, a retailer at this week's London bike show, its is clear which product is getting more attention. Visitors gravitate towards the Gocycle G3, standing around it and asking the assistant's questions. unlike the show ponies of other stands, the G3 is not modelled on bikes that won the Tour de France or are intended to shave seconds off their own times in triathlons. the G3 is blue, folds up and features a battery and an electric motor. Velorution is one of many exhibitors showing fast developing 'e-bike' technology - bikes that feature electric assistance to the pedals. Such boxes are intended to help less fit people to cycle when they might otherwise drive, help the fit cycle further and help couriers deliver heavier loads on cargo bikes. The UK's bike retailers and distributors hope e-bike technology can provide a boost not just for riders but for bike sales, which since 2008 have remained stuck at about 3.5m units a year. they also hope it can reverse the declines in transport cycling across the country. Jonathan Cole, Velorutions owner, says there is more of an acceptance of e-bikes than they used to be. "it's a great means of getting around town" he says. "You don't get sweaty" Phillip Darnton, executive director of the bicycle association, a trade body says e-bikes offer potential sales kick where previous hoped for incentives to bike buying, such as the 2012 Olympics, largely disappointed. "I think the big thing is that e-bikes will appeal to an entirely different consumer," he says. the picture for ordinary commuting bikes is not wholly gloomy, however, Mr Cole says Velorutioni's growing through focusing on "premium urban retail". the company sells stylish, practical bikes such as the UK -built Pashleys in well-off districts of the capital, where improved facilities have boasted cyclist numbers. Rui Amador, the marketing manager for Orbita, a Portuguese manufacturer, says his company is growing strongly in the U with a focus on low-priced but robust, practical bikes, especially in the expanding London market. but e-bikes are where the big interest is, according to roman Magual, owner of London green Cycles, because of the same reductions in battery and weight and improvements in power that are making electric cars more attractive. Many manufacturers have replaced motors that used to the wheels directly to powering the pedal cranks instead. that allows the bikes gears to widen the range of speeds where the motor provided useful assistance. The improvements have prompted several manufacturers including Brompton the make of the folding bikes o prepare plans for e-bikes for the first time The big question is whether the e-bikes can finally make the UK a large scale cycling nation as the Netherlands and Denmark have long been. Mr Darnton says many non-cyclists continue to feel roads are a hostile environment and suggest that ist is likely to continue as long as most parts of the UK lack good facilities for people to ride separated from the traffic. for the bike industry, the growing popularity of e-bikes and heavy duty cargo bikes , another trend in evidence at the show may be good news even if they fail to lift overall sales. source : ftweekendhttps://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SzyKYdFxdHs/WKr48AxVSaI/AAAAAAAAARw/EdQq-e0J4qouoIUpwTjbvKQ6VBxsEUsVgCLcB/s320/ebike-635544_1280.jpg from Blogger http://ift.tt/2l0aaA9 via Climate Change Action Group

#Climate change #carbon emission #save the planet

0 notes

bicyclehelmetsamazon-blog · 6 years ago

Text

NSW Centre For Street Security

Secure although cycling is, the very best confirmed way to enhance the security of cycling additional is via the encouragement of much more individuals to cycle. Gamers can both make a match with two cards or, to make it much more difficult, a match can have 4 like cards.

It is coming from the well-liked Schwinn, that have the track record of creating this kind of a higher-high quality item for a lengthy time. This is the purpose, I recommend you to adhere to the subsequent hyperlink to evaluation all the prior purchaser evaluation regarding the item or perhaps to uncover the lowest cost provided and other possible reduction.

Numerous sizes and designs of helmets accessible on the marketplace, but it appears like only a couple of brand names that dominate the marketplace, this is due to the promotion of power and fulfillment of customers who have established. I have painted a couple bikes for my buddies so I believed I would share some tricks I discovered in the procedure.. Have a practice at house initial as some are simpler to use than other people and might need a expert instrument to operate.

Based on your bike and tires, paved trails will be simpler for newbies. We reviewed it this summer time for urban riding and the every day bike commute. Whether or not you are riding to function, to class, or to meet up with buddies, you can merely FOLD the helmet and shop it in your bag till it is required once more.

Right here are some of the most well-liked bike helmet designs on the marketplace these days! The Sixthreezero EVRYjourney Women’s Touring Bike combines seven speeds with Smooth Cruise configuration that guarantees smooth pedaling whilst supplying sufficient torque for quick cycling and climbing hills. The most substantial outcome of a helmet law is to discourage cycling.

Only eleven % concerned a bike only and three % a bike and pedestrian.

If you are searching for the offers for Bell Blitz Mountain Bike Bicycle Helmet - 2016 . Every Retallack manual carries a pack with bike restore gear, rescue gear, and a initial help kit. Only eleven % concerned a bike only and three % a bike and pedestrian. If you have shopped for a helmet lately, you know MIPS is all over the place, such as in most of Giro’s helmets. Scoring a 5 had been the Louis Garneau Heros RTR MIPS and the Smith Overtake, which had been the heaviest helmets in the check at 288 and 291 grams respectively.

Becoming in a position to check improvement modifications with out the typical higher price of reserving a wind tunnel should definitely give the Large S a clear benefit. Usually, reduce priced helmets are 1-dimension-fits-all, which means that you will require to depend on your inner straps to modify to match your head.

The float method is produced in a way that it enables you to modify it when require be. But beneath the fashionable exterior, the In-Type match technique provides comfort and stability. one. The Dimension : Dimension of helmet is essential aspect for security of child, if it does not match firmly on the head then it will not offer sufficient security to skull.

The plastic helmet plates would have been eliminated as the new helmet plates had been issued. Locations with the highest prices of cycling also have the lowest prices of helmet utilization, exactly where cycling is noticed as a regular indicates of obtaining about which you can do with out unique sports activities clothes and extraneous security gear.

Non-collision crashes (forty%) and collisions with a vehicle, choose-up truck or van (26%) accounted for two thirds of the cycling injuries. Off street helmets appear extremely awesome and are particularly developed to counter the grime and debris that will get kicked in the direction of the encounter. Younger riders are needed to put on helmets in only 21 states and the District of Columbia.

So why, offered all that, is there nonetheless a motion inside this nation campaigning actively towards the use of helmets? It worked. There is no endemic tuberculosis in Australia. McDermott, F. T. "Globe Progress In Surgical procedure. Helmet efficacy in the prevention of bicyclist head injuries: Royal Australasian school of surgeons initiatives in the introduction of compulsory security helmet sporting in Victoria, Australia". Padding in the rest of the helmet is minimum, with just a little pad for the leading of the head.

0 notes

theconservativebrief · 6 years ago

Link

Hundred of motorized electric scooters quietly descended upon San Francisco seemingly overnight in March.

And then one day in June, they were gone.

In the months before their rapture, the scooters puzzled, infatuated, and infuriated residents. Those who dared to try them discovered a whimsical and cheap way to get around. Non-riders saw a swarm of self-entitled locusts devouring precious inches of sidewalk and street, backed by companies that were the epitome of tech-bro arrogance.

The city got fed up, and ordered all scooters be removed until it could come up with a permitting process. And its rollout and rollback has become a microcosm of the promise and perils of the scooter stampede. Already, scooter companies operate in 65 cities and are vying for the top prize, New York City. Some city officials, however, are desperately trying to rein in and regulate scooters, which often appear without warning and without local input.

Without docks, scooters are cluttering sidewalks and blocking wheelchair ramps. Riders weaving through crowds or ignoring traffic rules have caused bruises and broken bones. In Santa Monica, California, it’s apparently hard to walk without tripping over a scooter:

The companies behind the scooters haven’t done themselves any favors either. Following in the tracks of aggressive ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, some scooter companies have adopted the notorious “ask forgiveness rather than permission” approach when setting up shop. As in San Francisco, officials in cities like St. Louis were surprised to see hundreds of scooters suddenly perched on curbs without any forewarning.

Other cities, like Seattle, are trying to keep them out until they can write rules of the road to manage them. And this being 2018, scooter companies have attempted to seed a social media backlash to the backlash.

Amid the feverish passion for and against scooters, there’s a larger reckoning taking place about rapid changes to our cities and public spaces. The scooters are forcing conversations about who is entitled to use sidewalks, streets, and curbs, and who should pay for their upkeep.

They’re also exposing transit deserts, showing who is and isn’t adequately served by the status quo, and even by newer options like bike share. That people have taken so readily to scooters shows just how much latent demand there is for a quick and cheap way to get around cities.

Electric scooters are also challenging the king of American transit, the car. Most car trips are short, and if electric scooters do end up replacing some of them, they could alleviate congestion and help the environment. But that’s a big “if.”

So whether scooters are already rolling into your city or an infestation is looming, you might be wondering how they work, how they get charged, whether they’re safe, and if they are, in fact, good. Here are some answers. Grab the handlebars and hop on.

The electric scooters we’re talking about here are pretty simple. Imagine an ordinary two-wheeled kick scooter, like a Razor. Now imagine that it has an electric motor. That’s pretty much it.

The key innovation with the latest batch of scooters is the rental business model: Download the app on your smartphone for a scooter company — Bird, Lime, Skip, or Spin — and use the map to find a nearby scooter. Enter a credit card and scan a barcode to unlock the scooter. Go for a ride. Park the scooter and end the ride on the app.

The design of the electric scooter itself has been around for years, but it was often marketed as a toy. You may also recall another grown-up, two-wheeled “personal transporter”:

21st Century Fox

Launched in 2002, the Segway rode a wave of hope and hype into the market, promising to revolutionize transportation. The device used gyroscopes to almost magically balance on two wheels, sipped electricity, steered intuitively with body movements, and whisked riders along silently at 12 miles per hour.

But it launched with a price of $4,950, making it more a luxury bauble than a commuting workhorse. It was too heavy to carry easily when the batteries ran low. It was too fast for sidewalks, too slow and vulnerable for roads. Riders towered awkwardly over pedestrians, standing stiffly with their feet together as they whirred along. It soon became associated with tech bros and elitism, and thereafter was a punchline.

Segways are still around, but the riders are tour groups, mall security, and parking enforcement. They never became cool. As Jordan Golson wrote at Wired, “the problems that sank the Segway weren’t technological. They were social.”

So it’s these problems of Segways, plus the cost, that scooter rental companies are trying to solve.

For one thing, the rental scooters insulate the rider from most of the cost of the device. At retail, they cost between $100 and $500. But you can start riding many electric scooters for $1 and then 15 cents a minute thereafter. A 2-mile ride takes about 10 minutes and costs less than $3. When you’re done, you don’t have to take it inside or even plug it in; just leave it in a public space where it doesn’t block traffic.

This business model has drastically lowered the barrier to entry for scooter riders, allowing scooter skeptics to cheaply satiate their curiosity, turning some into loyal riders. Though the hardware is more akin to a Segway, the software makes using an electric scooter just like using a dockless bike.

Most of the scooter companies are using rebadged versions of existing electric scooter models that are already for sale. But they want their own custom devices that can handle the rigors of rental. In May, Lime announced it was partnering with Segway to design its next-generation scooter. Bird also rents out Segway-designed scooters.

The proliferation of rental scooters also draws on advances in telecommunications. The scooters have GPS units and 4G data connections to track riders’ every move. And the riders all have smartphones that locate and unlock the scooters while automatically paying the fare.

Batteries are another key advance. Since the early 2000s, energy storage systems have become more powerful and less expensive. Vehicle battery prices have dropped 86 percent between 2010 and 2016. Electric scooters now travel 20 to 30 miles between charges. These batteries have also benefited other electric transportation devices like motorized skateboards and unicycles.

Investors right now are also hungry for transportation startups, which partly explains the scooter boom. From ride-hailing to self-driving cars to electric cars, billions of dollars are pouring into companies that move people around. But short trips between apartments and metro stops or leisurely rides across parks remained a vacuum until recently.

So dockless bikes and, later, electric scooters rushed in to fill the void, securing millions if not billions in financing while clawing for market share.

On the customer side, there is a cadre of riders primed to adopt electric scooters. The generation that grew up rolling around culs-de-sac on Razor scooters is now commuting in urban centers. Balancing on two wheels is already familiar to them, so an app-enabled scooter rental service that can get you to work without breaking a sweat is an appealing throwback and a flash-forward.

In sum, the combination of entrepreneurs, technology, funding, and a race to grab a toehold in major urban centers all converged earlier this year, leading to a sudden crop of scooters starting on the West Coast in March and rippling throughout the country.

Here in Washington, DC, where four scooter companies have launched, I’ve found that the scooter has many charms. A scooter can whisk me to work past stopped traffic at 15 miles per hour. It’s very convenient to park it just about anywhere.

Some scooter firms are already “unicorns” — privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion. Bird, based in Santa Monica, doubled its valuation to $2 billion in just four months. Lime, which also rents bikes, crossed the $1.1 billion valuation mark just 18 months after it launched. Skip Scooters is valued at $100 million.

Meanwhile, Uber and Lyft have been struck by FOMO and are themselves getting into the electric scooter game. In July, Lyft bought Motivate, the largest bike-sharing company in the United States, reportedly for $250 million, aiming to leverage the bike network to deploy scooters. Uber bought Jump Bikes, an electric bike rental service, for $200 million in April.

Could there be a crash on the horizon? We’re already seeing dockless bikes piling up in scrap yards as companies fold. In China, abandoned bike-share bikes now fill vast fields outside major cities. As scooter-share companies jostle for dominance, weaker players will inevitably fold or be acquired, but it’s too early to say whether the concept as a whole will have staying power.

Umair Irfan/Vox

Behind every scooter parked on a sidewalk, leaning on a kickstand, is a vast, invisible infrastructure network that keeps the scooters maintained, charged, and accessible.

Engineers track where the scooters are going. Support staff answer questions on the phone. Technicians whisk off damaged scooters to hidden warehouses for repair.

And as the sun sets and power meters run low, chargers for hire roam the streets, scavenging depleted scooters, plugging them in at home, and placing them back on sidewalks early the next morning. Bird scooters return to their “nest.” Lime scooters are charged by “juicers.”

“For many people, it’s a fun way to make extra money,” said Colin McMahon, who leads Lime’s juicer program.

The way it works: Potential juicers apply for the job with Lime. When approved, they get special access through the app that highlights scooters that need charging. Charging one nets a juicer between $9 and $12, depending on how low the battery is, so a juicer’s take is a function of how many scooters she picks up and how much power those scooters need. Charging the scooter requires about half a kilowatt-hour of electricity, about 5 cents’ worth of power on average.

McMahon said most juicers spend an hour or two in the evening walking or driving around making pickups and then redeploy the scooters in specific locations marked on the app. “We leverage our data to say where are the best spots for people to begin their day for commuting,” he said. He declined to share the number of juicers Lime has on its roster or the typical number of scooters charged per juicer.

Bird follows a similar model. A diverse array of people have signed up as Lime juicers and Bird hunters, but unlike driving for Uber or Lyft, there is no background check. Technically, you have to be over 18, but many high schoolers are getting into the charging game, as the Atlantic reported.

The sliding scale for charging scooters has also created some perverse incentives that ne’er-do-wells have already exploited, as Nathaniel Buckley wrote at Slate:

… it turns out the charging system is akin to a real-life Pokémon Go, albeit one rife with cheating. The app purports to tell you where nearby chargeable scooters are, but in reality that’s rarely the case. Duplicitous collectors have created a thriving ecosystem of stockpiling, hiding, and decoying that makes it well-nigh impossible to find a scooter in need of charging.

When picking up a scooter, chargers are supposed to “capture” it via a button on the app. Doing this deletes the flag so others don’t waste time scouting for that particular Bird. It also stops the clock on the reimbursement meter. The longer a scooter goes without being captured, the greater the commission Bird will pay its chargers.

According to Harry Campbell of the Rideshare Guy Blog, scooter bounty hunters can net $20 to $30 an hour. And since each scooter can only be claimed by one charger, it can get competitive, as Taylor Lorenz reported at the Atlantic:

In saturated markets, the race to quickly grab as many scooters as possible is fierce. “One time I pulled up to pick up a scooter, I got there maybe 10 seconds before the other guy did,” said one charger in San Diego. “He started yelling at me. He picked up a Bird scooter and started beating my car. I got the hell out of there.”

There are also repair crews who scoop up damaged or vandalized scooters, though scooter companies insist only a small fraction of their vehicles end up deliberately mangled.

“Speed has never killed anyone,” said former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. “Suddenly becoming stationary, that’s what gets you.”

This holds for scooters. Traveling at up to 15 miles per hour doesn’t seem like much until you rapidly become acquainted with an unmoving object — say, a street sign, a wall, or the ground. Scooters don’t have crumple zones, air bags, or padding, so riders are exposed to everything around them.

There has been a rise in scooter-related injuries, but that’s largely a function of the spread of scooters themselves rather than any inherent danger in the vehicle. Still, given the vast abundance of these scooters, some physicians are concerned. Law firms are also readying themselves for litigation.

“We’re seeing these injuries daily, and at least once or twice a week we’re seeing someone who needs an urgent surgery,” Natasha Trentacosta, an orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles studying electric scooter-related injuries, told the Cedars-Sinai Blog. “These can be life-changing injuries, and they can often be prevented.”

Right now there isn’t any good data on injury rates among scooter riders. Many of the bumps and scrapes that come from a scooter tumble are minor, and there is no good way to track them. Health officials in California are trying to change that with a standardized data collection system.

There are plenty of threats to scooter riders for researchers to track. The tiny wheels can get trapped by uneven sidewalks and grates, causing falls. Damp weather can easily weaken the tires’ grip. On busy sidewalks, riders have to maneuver around pedestrians, pets, and potholes. On the road, scooters can be hard for drivers to see, and heavy, fast-moving vehicles can be deadly.

There’s also a learning curve. Electric motors can accelerate surprisingly quickly, and the momentum a rider generates takes effort to slow down. Keeping a leg ready to brace for a sudden stop requires some practice.

However, many of the same precautions for cyclists can reduce risks on scooters: Be aware of your surroundings, make sure the equipment is in good order, follow traffic rules, take your earbuds out, put away your phone, and be judicious with your speed.

As for helmets, scooter companies encourage riders to wear them with reminders in their respective apps (it’s also required by law in some states), though almost no one does. Bird currently offers free helmets to active riders (just pay shipping) but is also lobbying to relax helmet laws in California.

In practical terms, though, many riders won’t be carrying a helmet around for scootering since it’s a transportation mode designed for whim and convenience.

And the biggest safety issues right now stem from inexperience. Given how new scooters are, there’s no consistent etiquette for riding an electric scooter, and so pedestrians, drivers, and cyclist can’t necessarily anticipate what a scooter will do in an intersection, which can lead to conflicts (read: collisions).

Some riders claim the sidewalk; others ride in the street. Some will follow pedestrian signals, some will obey traffic lights, and some will do none of the above. Scooters don’t have turn signals, so it’s hard to broadcast your intent as a rider. They do have bells, but they don’t help much to get the attention of car drivers.

Establishing a set of best practices (and actually following them) would go a long way toward smoothing out the tensions between different modes of transport and solving the safety issues around scooters. This would require regulation from cities and education from scooter companies.

And as with any vehicle, don’t ride a scooter under the influence; it’s dangerous and illegal.

Most city ordinances say (and scooter rental companies insist) that electric scooters shouldn’t be ridden on sidewalks. Motorized vehicles pose a nuisance, if not a hazard, to pedestrians.

So that pretty much leaves streets. And for the reasons mentioned above, it can be nerve-racking for riders as cars whizz by. Which means scooters often remain on sidewalks, against the terms of service and, in many cases, the law.

The best and likely safest place for a scooter is a bike lane since there are no pedestrians and because the lanes can accommodate faster traffic (as a daily bike commuter, scooters aren’t any more annoying than slower cyclists).

However, most streets don’t have bike lanes, and unless the bike lane is protected or separated from car traffic, scooter riders will still have to contend with cars weaving in and out. Bike lanes also don’t reach most destinations, which means a scooter ride will almost always require riding on the sidewalk or in open traffic at some point.

The answer is an unsatisfactory “it depends.”

Like electric cars, scooters are only as green as the electricity that charges them. If your city gets most of its power from a coal or natural gas-fired power plant, that means your scoot around the neighborhood has a positive carbon footprint.

But the other piece of the environmental equation is what the scooter ride is displacing, or if it leads to trips that otherwise wouldn’t be taken.

For example, Estonia launched the largest free public transit system in the world in July. In the capital, Tallinn, researchers found that the scheme didn’t reduce car travel but did decrease walking.

If you’re scooting instead of walking, then the ride has a higher environmental cost. But if you’re replacing a car ride, then it has an environmental benefit since an electric scooter uses a tiny fraction of the energy consumed by a car.

Right now, scooters are doing both.

“Some of those walk trips are likely to be taken away at the shorter end, and some of those car trips are those at the long end,” said Brian Taylor, a professor of urban planning at the University of California Los Angeles who studies how transportation serves different population sets.

How does the environmental impact of scooters stack up next to public transit? Well, it depends. The balance changes depending on how far you’re going and the form of transit it’s replacing, whether it’s a diesel bus or an electric train.

On the other hand, a scooter can also encourage the use of public transportation. Most scooter trips are 1 to 2 miles long, and the companies themselves pitch scooters as filling the “last mile” in transit, expanding the reach of a transit station or a bus stop.

“There’s the West LA rail station that’s a 22-minute walk from me,” Taylor said. “I took a scooter the other day and it took me five minutes.”

If a scooter can help avoid commuting by car altogether, then the net environmental benefits can be huge. And even added all together, the energy use of scooters is trivial compared to the ongoing energy use in cars, buses, trains.

Keep in mind that the vast majority of trips people take on a regular basis are short. According to the US Department of Energy, almost 60 percent of vehicle trips in 2017 were less than 6 miles:

Javier Zarracina

Cars in particular comprise a huge chunk of these short trips. “Today, 40 percent of car trips are less than two miles long,” said Bird CEO Travis VanderZanden in a statement in March. “Our goal is to replace as many of those trips as possible so we can to get cars off the road and curb traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.”

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if drivers decided to walk or bike instead of drive for half of all car trips shorter than a mile, drivers would avert 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year and save $900 million annually.

Scooter rides are typically less than 2 miles, which is often too short a distance for hailing a ride if you don’t already own a car. This is part of why ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are so keen on electric scooters: They fill a need their current services can’t.

So scooter rides are going to displace car trips to an extent, which may reduce the number of cars on the road.

However, urban journeys are becoming increasingly multimodal, and scooters may add one more flexible link to the transit chain rather than replacing another mode completely. Their most valuable traits are how flexible they are compared to public transit, which runs fixed routes, and how cheap they are compared to cars. That means scooters fulfill a unique niche of the transportation ecosystem.

And if more scooters are riding in the streets, that could slow down traffic and increase congestion.

In a word, yes. A qualified yes.

Despite the consternation about how they’ve been rolled out, public opinion is on their side. According to a survey by Populus of 7,000 people across major US cities, 70 percent of respondents on average had a positive view of scooters, though perceptions varied by city:

The differences in attitude across cities in part come from the fact that scooter companies and their riders haven’t always been the best citizens. Many cities were eager to deploy docked bike-share bikes because it gave them control over where the bikes end up. But dockless bikes, and now scooters, have made it much more difficult to wrangle wheels.

Scooters and bikes blocked sidewalks, wheelchair ramps, and green spaces. For some of the launch cities, they quickly became a nuisance. For people with disabilities or limited mobility, the scooters became a hazard. For this reason, some urban planners say scooters must be regulated.

But cities that saw a more gradual rollout have had a much smoother ride.

“In San Francisco, you saw a lot of backlash,” said Sanjay Dastoor, CEO of Skip, of the sudden, unannounced scooter deployment in the city. “We didn’t see DC in the news with a scooter armageddon. The backlash depends on the way you do it.”

You know who does NOT have an issue with rental bikes and electric scooters? The Dallas Police Department.

Because almost no reported injuries. And VERY few crimes.

At worst, people scooting and cycling on sidewalks. But they’re not being ticketed.https://t.co/u38nLYFDyb pic.twitter.com/dTsxvkPKde

— Robert Wilonsky (@RobertWilonsky) August 13, 2018

Dastoor noted that Skip is proactively working with cities before deploying in a market and has never been issued a cease-and-desist order. The company is also trying to encourage riders to be more considerate through its app, informing them of the rules before they ride.

However, he acknowledged it’s still a challenge to keep miscreants in check. “In terms of enforcing behavior, that’s tough to do,” he said.

Companies are also working to ensure their devices stay out of the way. Lime now asks riders for a photo to verify that the scooter is parked in an appropriate spot at the end of a ride.

The upshot of all this hassle is that scooters are bringing cheap transportation to people who may otherwise not have used it. They effectively expand the range of neighborhoods, allowing residents to easily travel further and increasing the reach of businesses. Researchers have found that mobility is a critical rung in the ladder out of poverty.

That may explain why electric scooters have a better reputation with people of lower incomes:

Javier Zarracina/Vox

Bird has already proposed offering discounts for people who live in public housing or receive food stamps. Lime introduced a donation module to its app that will allow riders to dedicate part of their fare to a local nonprofit.

Cities are starting to pick up on this. In talking with city officials, Dastoor said one of the concerns that keep cropping up is equality: Cities want to make sure scooters serve all neighborhoods and that people have equal access to them.

Scooters could also work as a stopgap solution for transit deserts, but there are still people who can’t take advantage of them, like residents who can’t afford a smartphone to unlock one. For them, the benefit of scooters may just be that they expose gaps in transportation infrastructure.

But while cities argue over what to do about electric scooters, there’s another dockless vehicle taking up public spaces that often gets left out of the discussion:

Los Angeles is the most traffic-clogged city in the world. Motorists in LA spent an average of 104 hours in traffic in 2016, which amounted to an estimated $2,408 per driver in wasted fuel and productivity. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

It’s hard to overstate just how much cars have shaped cities, suburbs, and the country as a whole, becoming the water we all swim in. While cities are working to limit the number of scooters permitted, few have even thought about capping the number of cars. You even need a driver’s license to ride a scooter. As Populus observed in its report:

Based on the most recent public data, San Francisco, a relatively small city with one of the lowest vehicle ownership rates in the country, has approximately 500,000 registered vehicles. The city has approximately 442,000 publicly-available parking spots, including 275,000 on-street parking spaces. In comparison, various e-scooter regulations across the country that have adopted fleet restrictions have set caps on the number of e-scooters at 150 (on the low end) to 3,000 per company (on the high end, or no cap at all).

Though not everyone owns a car, everyone pays for one. There are roughly eight parking spots for every car in the United States, and free parking amounts to a subsidy to car owners of more than $100 billion a year.

That’s all before you include the impacts of driving, where the car actually moves. Roadways, law enforcement, pollution, and lost lives all add up to a huge social cost from driving, one that completely dwarfs anything electric scooters can muster.

And when a scooter company falls, it isn’t going to get a bailout from Congress.

That means there’s a strong case for demanding concessions from car infrastructure to facilitate walking, biking, and scooter riding — transit options that are more equitable and easier to access. That is, narrower roads in favor of larger bike lanes and sidewalks, also called a road diet. But scooter companies need to have city officials on their side if they want to continue doing business. Even notorious scofflaws like Lyft and Uber are wising up, submitting proposals to cities like Santa Monica before launching their own scooter businesses there.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of scooters will be that they will force a larger discussion of whom or what we prioritize when we design cities. “I’m hoping that all of this disruption will help us think more systematically about these things,” said UCLA’s Taylor.

The Big Apple is eager to have this conversation. City officials are already crafting legislation to help target scooters to areas suffering from transit congestion, like the L train corridor. Earlier this month, the New York Times editorial board endorsed the prospect of electric scooters roaming the streets. “If the city is serious about wanting safe, reliable ways for people in all areas of New York to get around, the path ahead is clear,” they wrote.

Original Source -> Electric scooters’ sudden invasion of American cities, explained

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

0 notes