Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/15/scooter-sharing-companies-got.html
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Insert Grumpy Cat saying “Good!” here.
It’s been sooo very nice NOT to see those things tossed about like yesterday’s trash. For two weeks now I haven’t seen a single one.
Refreshing, like the cleaner air we are breathing.
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Meanwhile, my GF and I have been looking into either electric scooters of our own, or (more likely) e-assist bicycles. We’ve realized how little we actually need our cars.
Oh, about the scooter companies? Look upon this vast empty ocean, and see how few fucks are floating in it.
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The streets of Austin are still somewhat littered with them, but there are vastly fewer.
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Movie theatres? Really? I guess they are so empty that it’s easy to keep social distance. Could be a good way to date.
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Ride share overall is way down, but… Because there are many fewer available, the ones that remain in use are making bank.
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Good. Maybe we’ll see far less of this:
Of course, I’m somewhat guilty as I’ve used scooters quite a bit on my commute - to the point where I’m pretty certain I’ll just buy one of my own. I was a proponent at first for scooter sharing companies but quickly soured when I saw the haphazard rollout and proliferation of these devices just being strewn about.
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And in Dublin the drivers are still parking on pavements and cycle lanes (can’t block a lane of real traffic) and using the empty roads to speed constantly.
No hassle from the Guards, but pedestrians get it and online they are all clutching their pearls about jogging.
And with the fewer cars on the road you can hear just how loud each and every one is as it hurtles past at over 50kmh.
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How to those things make money anyway?
Does spinning those tiny wheels generate bitcoin or something?
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They can’t be empty and also spending be up. In the article, “Movie theaters” are near minus 95%
It’s just a typo. In fact @orenwolf this post is pretty garbled:
should be “Other spending areas that have increased are gaming, food delivery, video streaming, and alcohol. Things people aren’t spending money on as much include fast food, fitness, apparel, hotels, airlines, and movie theaters.”
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I took a pass at it. 
The scooter population is beginning the migration back to the homeworld?
(although this pic is snagged from the web, I’ve witnessed this directly, walking around the lake in Oakland at night one sees their faint blinking LED’s glowing in the watery shallows)
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Since they lose money on every ride, they should technically be better off.
I’m going to get to use this comic a lot over the next few months.
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Please, everyone, don’t do this.
Those Lithium Ion batteries can’t be good for the body of water in which you throw them! The environment, man!
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For real, figured that should go without saying but it’s wise to nonetheless. The “lake” near me is actually connected to the bay, so it’s saltwater - which is going to attack and breakdown chemicals from metals in both the electronics and batteries. There are stingrays, various fishes and many bird species and other wildlife that manage to thrive in those urban waters despite all the abuse humans have managed over the years, let’s not make it harder for them.
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I was just saying to my wife that maybe, instead of everyone being in a rush to go back to the way things were as soon as possible, we should take some time – this time – to think about the things we’ve been doing and the things we’ve done, and decide if we really want to get back to that; or do we want to make some changes now while we can to make things better?
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Sales of user tracking data.
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Really? Wow! I didn’t know that. Thanks.
I’m guessing in San Francisco and Portland and places like that, they don’t generate enough useful data to cover the costs.
Beijing is a whole other scale, but I still can’t imagine the data is very useful.
(I can’t see the article, it’s paywalled)
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