Scooter Sharing
Have you tried one of the electric scooters from Lime, Bird, or Spin? Apparently, they’re collaborations with Segway, so I assume they’re gyro-balanced, easy to ride, etc. I’ve seen a few in Hollywood, but they’re breeding like rabbits all over Santa Monica & Venice!
Starting in China, where they’ve been hugely popular and also created scooter congestion problems, they arrived in Santa Monica in October 2017, and have also touched down in San Francisco, and a handful of other American cities. Millennials love them! Cities appear a bit more wrought over their congestion, safety, and other implications. Last night, the Santa Monica City Council voted to limit them to 1,500 scooters, with provisions for flexible expansion during a 19-month pilot program.
To use them you download an app, use it to find a scooter, and start riding. The rate is about $1 to start, and $9/hour (charged by the minute – $0.15). Unlike the Metro bicycles that you have to return to a Metro rack, when you’re done with your Lime, Spin, or Bird, you just park it anywhere and log out.
At night, the headlight, red running lights, and green underbelly light are so cool! They’re everywhere on the bike path between Santa Monica and Venice.