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I’ve just had my first go on an eScooter and I wanted to share the experience.
In my city we have eScooters for rent. Generally eScooters are illegal on the pavement and the road; they can be used only on private land. Except if they are rented. I suppose this is to help to enforce who is using them and that the user is held accountable for whatever they do on them without needing number plates and insurance etc.
The scooters have been available for quite some time and I’ve only just given them a go. I generally cycle and have no need, but my bike needs fixing and I decided to give it a go. You register in an app and need proof of identity. You pay via debit/credit card or Google pay in a the app. You look to see where one is, on the map, and head to it. Or you see one with a green light and head over.
At the scooter you scan the QR code or type in a short code, the details pop up in the app and you confirm you are using it. You pay an amount and the scooter unlocks. There is a handy phone holder on the handlebars, which was broken on the first one I tried. A quick push off with your foot, press the trigger and off you go. It has brakes and flashing turning indicators. It is a decent size, I’m not mega tall, but probably above average and it didn’t feel small.
The speed was reasonable but felt slow at times. Bikes can often feel slow Compared to other traffic, but you can frantically pedal if needed to get across a junction for example but these things can’t do that. So it felt odd having a fixed max speed.
The cost is, to me, seems very high. There is a flat “unlocking” fee and then you pay per minute (yes minute) for usage. There is a monthly or daily pass which would save money quite quickly. Or there is monthly “free unlock” pass, which seemed less good.
The area you can travel in shows up on the map, it shows several no-go areas that it says the scooter will not work in and several go-slow areas that it will go slower in. I did find it went a a crawl speed at one point and I wondered if I was in a slow area, but I couldn’t tell as my phone had turned off by then. And a couple of times, while near a no go area, it seemed to go a bit funny.
The other traffic was as dangerous as they are with a bike. I generally follow the Highway Code, stop at lights and wait my turn at junctions, but other traffic tends to get way too close to cyclists and scooter. At one point a taxi must’ve come up behind and overtook me with centimetres to spare, they were that close. I imagine scooters are taller than bikes so I can’t imagine they are harder to see. Bumps on the road seemed more of a problem than on a bike, maybe I’m more used to bikes or maybe the smaller wheels made it more noticeable. The brakes seemed really good. You can take your finger off the accelerator and you slow down quite fast, but you will stop instantly if you put slam the brakes on.
Parking is a bit annoying. You have to go to an area marked on the map with a parking symbol. There are a lot, but it was a bit annoying finding one on one trip.
Overall a reasonable experience, but rather expensive.
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