Don't blame scooters. Blame the streets. 

If you’d like to learn more about the deal with scooters in your city, I recommend following Curbed. This piece by Alissa Walker inspired this video: www.curbed.com/word-on-the-street/2018/7/13/17246060/scooters-uber-lyft-bird-lime-streets

My favorite parts of a city are those that have tree-lined streets with at most two narrow lanes for vehicles, protected bike lanes and wide sidewalks encouraging foot traffic. These areas are catalysts for small shops and restaurants and generate a nice vibe.

As someone who lives in a wheelchair, I'd like to remind 95% of everyone of my previous favorite last mile option: legs.

That's what happens when everything is designed with only the convenience of cars in mind

The thing you are looking for is BIKELANES

Americans : this scooter will be a problem for our sidewalk Southeast Asia : Hold my motorcycle

Anyone from Europe who thinks that walking 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) is not that much?

The 'last mile' issue of the US is a fault of the urban planning in itself. Much of US suburbs are huge sprawls. People live spaced out too far apart for transport connections to be economic. Scooters in the last mile is treating the symptom not the cause.

Laughs in Dutch, where we not just need to cycle the last mile but just can go all over town

Here in the Philippines, sidewalks should be called "Extended lots", since most of the residents eats up the sidewalk spaces to add for their living space 🤷‍♂️

These scooters are a life saver on a college campus like IU Bloomington- 35 minute walk turns into a 5 minute ride

Damn, only Vox can makes a video about sidewalk/street evolution interesting

I don't know why but I read the title as "Don't blame shooters. Blame the streets"

Wrong title: It should have been "Don't blame scooters. Blame people"

wish they'd redesign the kickstands on scooters so they can stand up all the time when parked.

They say stop using cars so people use scooters , now they are mad about scooters? 🤔🤔🤔

“Complete streets is a new term” 😅 No, America is simply the last continent to start using it 🙂

I think the scooters are another great way of getting around big cities They of course like everything have flaws

The last mile only exists because people are forbidden from living less than a mile from where they need to go. Planners always dance around the real issue- zoning. Zoning bylaws are almost as anachronistic as those images of the man crossing traffic with the baby. Its the simplest, most effective way to fix North American cities.

I've been loving and advocating strongly for the pilot here in Portland. Absolutely love these as a daily cyclist. Let's get more alternate transportation and leave our cars behind!

We just need more protected bike lanes

If y'all think a few scooters on the street is crazy, you haven't been to China.

I feel like they should have to follow bike rules and use the bike lanes

The Dutch did this for about 50 years now...

"don't have a last mile option.." ever heard of something called walking?

In my experience these scooters do not substitute for car rides (of whatever variety). People use them instead of walking. Additionally, we've got bikelanes everywhere here and the scooters stay on the walkways. They're a total failure and in no way help urban traffic management.

Don't blame the streets, blame the people who made them.

These scooters are changing the way people move about in the city. Especially in Atlanta

All this has to do with infrastructure, hence why the U.S. is ranked among the worst in infrastructure

In Montreal, Canada there is a median separated bike/Scooter lane separate from cars and pedestrian lanes! They have their own lights and stop signes too

"Hey Bill! Somebody left this perfectly good scooter with a bunch of spare computer parts all over it!" "Just toss it in the truck Ned."

In my country electric bike scooters and so on are not permited to use the sidewalk by law, they can drive only on bike lanes or on the road near the cars, and act with the same laws as them. That was decided because of the speed they can have, therefore hitting pedestrians on the sidewalk

I use them here in Atlanta occasionally, so fun! Our sidewalk are pretty wide and not much ppl too so its win-win

Who needs E-Scooters when you have Little Tikes cozy coupe?

I think these rentable scooters, bikes etc. are a great idea! Sadly, bikers, scooters and pedestrians have to watch out for cars and trucks, when it should actually be the other way around.

Darn... 1 mile for us metrics 1.6km is really walking distance, good for the health also...

Is it me or is the audio in this video all over the place? Some parts were really quiet, others were really loud.

No mention of the issues haphazardly docking scooters in the middle of side walks brings, like inhibiting handicapped or wheelchaired pedestrians. Kind of surprised

"Don't blame the scotters, blame the people who think it's ok to leave things wherever they want" FTFY

The last part describing “complete streets” reminded me of the city of Freiburg in Germany. They used that layout to create streets and it works like a charm

I‘m very happy with being a motorcyclist, I am fast, I can split the lanes through traffic and I can park everywhere.

In my opinion, scooters in my city (Columbus, Ohio, as seen on 0:14) are not that big of an issue compared to other cities. I am a student at The Ohio State University and I, along with hundreds or thousands of other people, are seen on these scooters commuting to our destinations every day. I am first-year commuter from home, and unless you are a non-student worker or an upperclassman, it can be hard to get a car on campus grounds. With this, there are less cars driving around the largely sized campus grounds, meaning that there are more sidewalks and walkable roads for students to commute across.I have to ride my car to an off-campus bus lot, take a bus to campus grounds, and then travel anywhere from a few hundreds yards to roughly a whole mile to get to my destination. The fact that I can finish the last mile on an electric scooter to get to my class or other destination is very convenient. It feels more safe on campus to ride these scooters and the scooters encourages students to travel outside of campus since it is right next to downtown Columbus.I hope this makes sense, but I feel as though that the electric scooters are a very great way to commute around campus.

Now i live in Lansing, not a big city like New York so this may be a dumb question. But is it really that bad to walk “the last mile”? I walk about a mile and a half just to get my coffee in the morning

Each person on a scooter represents a person sitting in a car in traffic. Scooters take less space and alleviate traffic congestion. They also require much less energy to transport people. Changes should be made to make it better for scooter people.

WASHINGTON D.C it’s a perfect city for electric scooters. I tried one for the first time and it was awesome!

5:07 he's coming for your girl!

I go to Ohio State University, in Columbus, and the Lime and Bird scooters are everywhere and apparently were causing issues on the sidewalks so emergency legislation was passed that they are now required to be operated solely in the streets. Honestly, they seem to be super helpful for students who need to get to class on time. They're not too expensive at .15 cents * minutes + $1. I've not personally used them, but they seem to be a good thing maybe just move them into the bike lanes/roads and off the sidewalks? Since as stated in the video the streets have more estate than sidewalks. Also wish they had helmets for safety measures since they're required to be in the streets add some sort of lock built into the scooter that has a helmet and charge the rider if they fail to return the helmet. Obviously there'll still be people throwing out the scooters or destroying them, but they're an not awful solution to moving around without a vehicle.

Honestly if the scooters were faster, people would be more comfortable using them on the streets with cars around them, since what usually gets you messed up is waffling between acting like a bike on the shoulder, and committing to the center of the road. Also try to be either DIRECTLY in front of or directly behind cars, otherwise they can't see you very well

In my opinion and living in Los Angeles, I’m seeing reduced streets for bike lanes and those scooters even before they were added, however, as recent events with scooters and as so few people are using bicycles, it creates even more road congestion and accidents. Planners here need to establish public transportation infrastructure first before making these changes as it’s proving to be bad for everyone doing it the way they are.

I have ridden both the Bird and Lime. They were really handy and showed me the city I was visiting in a whole new way. My friends and I really enjoyed them and did about 12 miles over two days. We always parked them away so they weren't a nuisance. I really liked Vox's coverage on this

These Limes and Bird scooters just popped up in Detroit about month maybe 2 months ago. There is very little transit here but this solves the problem, sure a mile or two isnt a lot but this just make things more convenient and city friendly. It cost me 2$ to go 2 miles in about 12 mins while the bike sharing is 8 dollars and if i go over 30 mins its an extra $4. If cities just provide dedicated bike lanes for different forms of transportation the headache of getting hit or blocking the sidewalk will be gone. These things are blessing here because transit sucks and its bringing more people into the city center, people are more willing to explore and check out certain places since its easier to get to.

It's so funny because I can't even find a sidewalk in my country.

Its the same problem as the segway... the infrastructure isn't designed for it.

It really took over down town Salt Lake City Almost no one walks anymore, it’s pretty neat

Some of us have known for several decades that the answer to cars isn't scooters, its bicycles. Once acquired the running cost is very low, nearly zero. People in my city are tipping them over and throwing them into garbage bins and dumpsters. This was just a bad idea from the start. If you want to use a scooter, fine, just use the road. That's what its there for. This is what the law states. Unfortunately this is NOT enforced the way it should be.

India still stuck with rules of 1906 jaywalking during green light

The thing is that many people just hate public transportation and will never use it. I understand that since i hate it too and the reasons are i can never get directly to my destination, i have to wait, there is too many people, dirty and many other reasons.

still better than having traffic and air/noise pollution

These scooters are far cheaper alternatives than restructuring bus/rail system. Not only that but it doesn't require more taxes or dealing with the constant union strikes France/Italy/Germany have

I wish I had these in Canada! they'll be so useful and so much fun and we get people more outside

Electric scooters are for vagues, if you really want to avoid pollution and don't use car, then use bike. You have right to ride in more places, it's less dangerous than a thing that drives 50km/h and also you do exercise.

Scooters are a green form of transportation aren’t we supposed to like that

Ive almost been hit by some of those things, skate boards too, and they can go pretty fast.

Just use the bike lane

In Thailand we use motorbike taxi for our last 1.6 km. But I also like the scooter idea. Seems envirometal friendlier!

very good video covering a topic many over look or plainly ignore. Open front stores and restaurants that can utilize the sidewalk always make the neighbourhood feel more energentic as their environment is allowed to creep into the street. Big thing with city planning and car/pedestrian interactions however is that absolutely no one obeys crosswalks signs as they were created. People cross until the counter reaches 0 rather than stopping as they are supposed to as soon as the counter starts.

Modern capitals in Europe are increasing the size of non-cars areas. Big walkways areas.

Last mile. That is kinda crazy. In Czechia (where I live) and in other EU cities (I saw), there is never the issue. It is always like a last 0.3 mile. A mile, really crazy.

Scooters lane would be good. 😁

Two years later, cities are now banning motorized scooters, period. Their retort, buy a bike or Razor. The main issue with these scooters was mainly because it never substituted the car, it substituted walking. When these things take up sidewalks as opposed to bike lanes, yeah, people aren't going to like them. You know what does substitute the car though? Public transportation, i.e. one of the many thing the United States refuses to invest in well enough since the 1980s.

The Netherlands has these complete streets all over the country for decades! Bike paths are all over the place and guess what.... These electric scooters are ILLEGAL in the Netherlands.... If there's one country where this could work right from the beginning, it would be the Netherlands.

I don't think this trend has really reached Europe yet, tbh I don't think it would really work in most European cities. Most buildings are simply too close and roads will often have only 1-2 lanes. Unless you live in Denmark or Netherlands where you have bike lanes a plenty, you won't find much space to use these scooters here.

"Don't blame scooters. Blame the streets. " - scooter drivers

Why use scooters when u have bikes?doesnt riding bikes make us healthy?

I went to Finland this summer after I graduated from school, and it is remarkable and just brilliant how they have set up their streets. Extra wide sidewalk, with a bike lane right immediately adjacent, and the sidewalk is made of concrete tiles while the bike lane is smooth to encourage bikes to stay on the bike lane. Then there is a median, then there are lanes for cars, and then in between the car lanes there was a lane for the street car. They also had lanes for parking, in some places, which were always distinct from the rest of the bike/walking lanes. It was amazing and so fast to get across the cities. Helsinki and Tampere had this mastered to the point that I thought I would be happy if my tax dollars went to sending urban designers from Toronto to Helsinki for a few days, as long as they used that knowledge to improve the streets here.

Love this video. So tired of people complaining about bikes and scooters, when the lack of space isn't even our fault

Those complaining about scooters should be thankful horses aren't still the preferred mode of transport.

I love electric scooters :)

Imagine a city where cars can't enter the city, and its only possible to walk or bike. There's a focus on trams, subways, and bike use. A healthier city that is safer. In the future there can be expansions underground for roads to ship freight into the city and long distance trains, and a upper level of monorail systems.

In certain areas of San Diego the city has moved very quickly to add lanes for bikes and scooters. In effect, they have made the streets narrower for cars to encourage the use of other modes of transportation; bikes, scooters, and public transport. As for the use of them, it is a process. People need to remember that it is a moving vehicle and they need to wear a helmet and be courteous to pedestrians when they park them after their journey. We all have the ability to learn and be nice to each other.

Why rent, get your own! they are CHEAP

I love the scooters! I ride it in the bike lane and on the streets JUST like a bike. The scooters I've been on go 17mph! That's faster than me cruising on my bike in the street. Bikes go too fast for sidewalks and do not belong there unless you are uncomfortable riding in the street as a cyclist. Sometimes slower cyclists or beginner cyclists use the sidewalk and I think that is totally fine! But I say TAKE YOUR DANG LANE with the scooter. It's great to not have to rely on Lyft and Uber. I honestly just wish there were more scooters, as I sometimes have to race people to get to the one's we can all see parked on our apps. Haha. Seriously though, just mind the rules of the road as a cyclist/scooter and share the road if you are in a car.

The problem is that the buildings are very expensive to move and the city doesn't have enough space to work with to build "complete streets"

You know that she is Greek from the accent ... Anyway greetings from Greece

I'm a big supporter of those scooters. In Germany, they're not allowed on the sidewalk, they have to be used in the bike lane, and if none is available, in the street. Same goes for cars

Scooters are dangerous, in my country, they are allowed on the sidewalks or pedestrian walk ways and since then, there have been many accidents involving scooters knocking down pedestrians and the latter suffering horrific injuries like brain damage, teeth knocked out and even coma. Because some drivers are inconsiderate and go so fast, the impact of the collision is so great and the victim will suffer substantial damage. Now not even the sidewalks are safe. These scooters should be limited to the roads only or operate at a lower speed limit.

Everyone knows that sidewalks in urban environments are now for homeless to sleep. Fix homelessness before scooters.

In my town they got banned as of October 1

Bird doesn't get permits they dump their scooters on sidewalks because they are flush with Silicon Valley Venture Capital cash.

I just went on a trip to Paris with my family and we used scooters while we were in the city. It was SO NICE. Because there's so much traffic it was half the travel time as taking taxis or Ubers at a fourth the price. And you get to see everything so much better than being in a confined car. When we could we used bike Lanes and just drove right alongside the cars. A little nerve racking at first but you got used to it. It also probably helps that their cars are so much smaller. The only time the bike Lanes didn't work was when there was cobblestone, it was super bumpy. But we could also go down to the bike trails below street level on the river when we were going that way. When it was crowded o. The sidewalk you just straddle your scooter and walk along with everyone else till it cleared out enough. I am a huge huge huge fan.

Here in Singapore we have a similar problem, but it's dockless bikes. They're scattered everywhere and things have only gotten worse after a few operators have pulled out. They shut down their services but left the bikes all over the place. Now we have unusable bikes everywhere and no one's cleaning them up. The government said they got someone to clear them but they're all over the place and they can't get all of them. Now it's practically become normal to see these abandoned bikes on their sides scattered all along the sidewalks. Furthermore, no one's sure what the laws regarding these bikes are. I'm sure some people would love to take these abandoned bikes, clean them up and make them their own personal bike, but a lot of us are afraid of the laws tht we may not know about.

Didn't know walking a mile was so difficult

High Tech scooters. Yet collapsing infrastructure? Come on America. 😂

I was about to get pissed at the whole thing of reducing car lanes, but then I remembered I ride a motorcycle. As long as I'm allowed to Lane split to my heart's content, bring in wider sidewalks!

I use them downtown where parking is limited/expensive. I can park somewhere that is free and pay 2$ for a scooter to take me the rest of the way. Works for me. You can also get paid to take them back to your house, charge them, and put them out in the morning.

In Seattle we don’t have scooters, but we have bikes exactly the same. Green, dock wherever, a dollar to start, and they’re EVERYWHERE. I haven’t used one yet because I’ve been assuming it’s expensive but I also haven’t really looked into it. They’re electric assisted so it seems like a cool good idea I def wanna try

*Walking is always a good form of transportation.*

Cant you just walk the last mile man people today lazy af

Just walk from point A to point B, don’t be soft people

Blame US Urban Planning and Planners. They are the very ones who went with Dwight Eisenhower's obsession with freeway systems from his short tour of Germany, seeing the Autobahns. Also, we can blame the time of which this country was founded (Technically not fully sovereign until 1789, it was the declaration of independence that got signed in 1776. Declarations do not equate to full and true sovereignty). This was at the start of the peak of the industrial revolution. As such, this meant the US rushed into it, and all things created from it FAST, while putting a major emphasis upon any inventions that came of it in the country and to then effectively over utilize it in order to make a name for themselves in the world while trying to become one of the top industrial powerhouse nations. The US was immediately obsessed once Henry Ford brought the people of the country the first automobile. They quickly began reforming streets to be for the car. Later on down the line, you hit 1950 and especially the 1960s, when the US went through it massive addiction to freeways, freeways, freeways! And then their next step in that obsessive process of development - Suburbia and it's sprawl. And this leads us to today. The country was built almost entirely for the automobile - the car, and later, the truck. They had no attention or car for the pedestrian, the cyclist, nor the public transport options. It was and has always been purely about the car. This is why the US is in the horrendous and aggravating position it is in today in terms of transportation. It's hideous. With lack of investment and focus in pedestrians especially it wound up doing this to itself. The lack of emphasis or care on the part of making way for public transit is another major self-inflicted wound. Overall, it's the lack of a balanced investment and focus while planning. The US has always had a critical case of Tunnel-Vision. Only focusing on the one obsession they're currently on. It's never caused any good, only problems, especially in the long term. A problem with the general public's mindset is quite similar to the tunnel-vision our government always has. They really only see this transport problem from their own form of transit. And, people feel that transportation and infrastructure are far too boring to pay any real attention to, research or talk about. Thus also why the US has one of the worst investment records on both fronts. I myself am a lifelong pedestrian and public transit user. I am in fact reliant upon both, unfortunately. If I was in Europe, like say in Praha, Czechia, I wouldn't be too whiny, if really at all. But instead, I'm stuck in the US with our inexcusably horrid excuse for a public transit system, meaning all other forms of transit not including the automobile (=Public Transit). I am also a lifelong transit fanatic. I have spent obscene amounts of time researching, investigating, studying and observing all forms of public/mass transit around the world, not just here in the US. This includes down to the vehicles, paths, concepts and safety extras too. This all has taught me how a proper, functional, reliable, easily accessible for all transit system should be ran, and how Planners for both cities and transport within them should plan and implement them together. 1. Buses are the #1 priority they should have and emphasize, always. Specifically, BRT. 2. Pedestrian infrastructure and accommodations must follow suit with the bus planning and networks. 3. Ensure safe, well developed and broad enough spaces for other forms of public transit (Bicycles, Scooters, Segways, etc) 4. Parks and public open spaces to congregate, relax, play, host events, etc 5. Auto-related infrastructure and planning. Note how the car comes dead last. THAT IS HOW IS SHOULD BE DONE. The US effectively does the exact opposite, and has always done the exact opposite. The main difference is, the US does NOT put almost any funding, emphasis, focus or effort on anything with 1 and 2, while with 3, the do more with than one and two, however still not remotely enough, only focusing on bicyclists and none of the others, and giving them unprotected and incredibly narrow lanes to navigate with motorists, which is proven VERY unsafe to do, and with 4, they do not put enough focus or care into ensuring they are spreading the parks and open public spaces out throughout the expanse of their city, nor do they look to make them truly available for all to enjoy, as they tend to emphasize high-end and expensive parks to entice tourists and photographers, alongside special private events that are expensive and exclusive. It's no secret how horribly the US planned out it's transportation networks, how little it has invested within it, and how little care they have to take care of any of it. It's also no secret how just plain horribly they planned literally everything when it comes to free and easy navigability throughout their cities. In fact, it's becoming more and more known worldwide, and is becoming quite frequent that people in other countries use US cities and transport systems as example of what NEVER to do. Portland's TriMet is one of the consistently used examples of how not to run or build a public transit system, and why you probably should never touch light rail, either. The MBTA, NJTransit and Kansas City's transportation systems are the other three alongside TriMet used most frequently, with Las Vegas as an honorable mention of why the more stylistic and fancy forms of transport are beyond idiotic to support (LV Monorail, anyone?) One of the biggest problems with city and metro region transportation systems is that the agencies behind them are Multi-Governmental Corporations - as in, it's the government (which is already a horrible idea), and it is all about profiteering from the system. But Public Transport is NOT to be used to try and make a profit on. It's a basic human right and necessity, it is a public service. Thus to run it for profits (i.e, as a corporation, like the US Governments do) is beyond counter-intuitive, idiotic and even offensive for those of us who must use it to get around. If they ever are somehow taken out of the hands of the government and private sectors, and put into the hands of the public who rides them, or, put into the control and ownership of a private group whom knows it should never be ran for profits, but only to serve the greater community as a needed social aid - Then it would begin to prosper over time, as they would know that it is the riders that know best, and the ridership that they are serving the aid to. Listen to your riders, and the general public, not to corporate or governmental/political interests and/or money. Understand how public transit is supposed to be ran, how it should be setup. Have them have the say in where and how routes should be laid out. Where there is a lot of people needing a good option for getting around.