Scooters? (Bird/Lime/Others)
 

Is this the place to discuss Bird/Lime etc? I am using Bird in a lot of places I would have used lyft previously. Downtown traffic is generally stop-and-go enough that I don't worry about top speed too much plus the newer models have enough power that I feel comfortable riding in the street.

Bird showed up here basically right around the time of this year's Comic-Con (or maybe they were around a while before and I only noticed them then). I've been meaning to try it but I haven't really found a reason to yet. I presume their customer service and app are decent?

I've never heard of Bird, but Lime is atrocious for both maintenance and customer service. Lime is riding their "hey look at us, we're an innovative startup!" status straight into a hole.

The first gen bird scooters are too underpowered for me, even on a slight hill they have trouble (I'm 6'5" 270lbs).

The 2nd gen models with the additional battery pack are zippy enough that I'm comfortable riding in traffic, at least in downtown stop-n-go traffic, but I'm not a huge fan of the electronic brake that replaced the manual brake in the first-gen model.

I have seen a larger 3rd gen model but haven't ridden one yet, it's got a larger deck and the manual brake is back.

I'm avoiding lime for now, not a fan of their payment model. Bird just charges my card for each ride, lime wants me to pre-load some money into a lime account, no thanks.

Bird's signup takes a bit longer than I thought it would, requires driver's license scan. Also Bird seems to have less scooter density than Lime based on observations in three downtowns. My last attempted ride failed as it incorrectly thought my license was expired.

I haven't Lime'd yet but signup was easier and with bikes also available seems like the more likely company for me.

Almost hit two tourists Saturday taking the scooters on a 50 mph highway at dusk. Wearing dark clothes. Dude had on a fedora and suspenders. Saw them just in time to serve.

I think they are great for getting around cities. In Nashville, they are usually operated by drunk tourists who use them to get from one entertainment district to the next. Just watch out because by Friday or Saturday afternoon, they are SWI (scootering while intoxicated).

Yea they might require more users wearing helmets from now on

At least in California, we recently got rid of the helmet requirement for those over 18.