<story><title>Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100</title><url>https://www.axios.com/e-scooter-startup-lime-shuts-in-12-markets-lays-off-around-100-d25d44e4-c0f1-4713-9a89-868f4da40e03.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Hasz</author><text>Ah, but public transit is inherently the slowest option. I have no desire to make 10 stops before I get where I&amp;#x27;m going. I also have zero desire to rent my modes, as that encourages literally rent seeking behavior.&lt;p&gt;Either we need to figure out how to drop off and pickup passengers at speed, or penalize individualized transport that is space inefficient (like cars). Good luck pursuing the latter in the US; punitive measure seem to work elsewhere.&lt;p&gt;I think the way forward is compact private transport, like bikes, scooters, walking, etc, augmented by a robust mass public transit. Unfortunately, that mix implies a expensive re-configuring of most American cities.</text></item><item><author>the_imp</author><text>The whole model of needing to own your own transportation devices is flawed.&lt;p&gt;9&amp;#x2F;10 times, I&amp;#x27;m moving from one location with many other people in it to another location with many other people. I would prefer not needing to own any medium in order to move between them, but instead be able to use a public service to do so. Bus, tram, metro, citybike, scooter. I&amp;#x27;d really rather not own stuff with really high capital costs, like cars.&lt;p&gt;At this point, the only reason to own anything more expensive than a bike is bad city planning and infrastructure.</text></item><item><author>Hasz</author><text>This whole model is incredibly, impossibly, flawed.&lt;p&gt;9&amp;#x2F;10 times, my net displacement for the day is 0. If my net displacement is zero, I would prefer to own the medium I&amp;#x27;m using to move. Bike, car, scooter etc. Only exception is stuff with really high capital costs, like planes and trains, in which case I pay a small fee to avoid owning a railway or airline.&lt;p&gt;For scooters, there are no high capitals costs; the cost of a scooter is laughably low. It&amp;#x27;s sold as a quicker-than-walking, less-hassle-than-a-car last mile solution, but again, 9&amp;#x2F;10 of my trips are 0 displacement, so, why not just buy the scooter outright? Cheaper, safer, faster (I know where it is, no need to walk to it, etc).&lt;p&gt;They only way Lime, Bird etc survive is by legislation. Lobby for scooter licensure, buy up all the licenses, and become the taxi industry (except for scooters, and you have to drive!)&lt;p&gt;What an ironic loop.&lt;p&gt;At this point, the only reason to fund these guys is FOMO.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>robrenaud</author><text>&amp;gt; Ah, but public transit is inherently the slowest option.&lt;p&gt;This isn&amp;#x27;t true if you are in a dense city with good public transit.  This is currently mid day (3 PM), and it&amp;#x27;s about 30% faster (21 minutes vs 29 minutes) to go from my current location in Manhattan to a bar I enjoy hanging out in Brooklyn via public transit than car, according to Google Maps.  It would be even better around rush hour.</text></comment>
<story><title>Lime shuts in 12 markets, lays off around 100</title><url>https://www.axios.com/e-scooter-startup-lime-shuts-in-12-markets-lays-off-around-100-d25d44e4-c0f1-4713-9a89-868f4da40e03.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Hasz</author><text>Ah, but public transit is inherently the slowest option. I have no desire to make 10 stops before I get where I&amp;#x27;m going. I also have zero desire to rent my modes, as that encourages literally rent seeking behavior.&lt;p&gt;Either we need to figure out how to drop off and pickup passengers at speed, or penalize individualized transport that is space inefficient (like cars). Good luck pursuing the latter in the US; punitive measure seem to work elsewhere.&lt;p&gt;I think the way forward is compact private transport, like bikes, scooters, walking, etc, augmented by a robust mass public transit. Unfortunately, that mix implies a expensive re-configuring of most American cities.</text></item><item><author>the_imp</author><text>The whole model of needing to own your own transportation devices is flawed.&lt;p&gt;9&amp;#x2F;10 times, I&amp;#x27;m moving from one location with many other people in it to another location with many other people. I would prefer not needing to own any medium in order to move between them, but instead be able to use a public service to do so. Bus, tram, metro, citybike, scooter. I&amp;#x27;d really rather not own stuff with really high capital costs, like cars.&lt;p&gt;At this point, the only reason to own anything more expensive than a bike is bad city planning and infrastructure.</text></item><item><author>Hasz</author><text>This whole model is incredibly, impossibly, flawed.&lt;p&gt;9&amp;#x2F;10 times, my net displacement for the day is 0. If my net displacement is zero, I would prefer to own the medium I&amp;#x27;m using to move. Bike, car, scooter etc. Only exception is stuff with really high capital costs, like planes and trains, in which case I pay a small fee to avoid owning a railway or airline.&lt;p&gt;For scooters, there are no high capitals costs; the cost of a scooter is laughably low. It&amp;#x27;s sold as a quicker-than-walking, less-hassle-than-a-car last mile solution, but again, 9&amp;#x2F;10 of my trips are 0 displacement, so, why not just buy the scooter outright? Cheaper, safer, faster (I know where it is, no need to walk to it, etc).&lt;p&gt;They only way Lime, Bird etc survive is by legislation. Lobby for scooter licensure, buy up all the licenses, and become the taxi industry (except for scooters, and you have to drive!)&lt;p&gt;What an ironic loop.&lt;p&gt;At this point, the only reason to fund these guys is FOMO.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>smallgovt</author><text>&amp;gt;&amp;gt; Ah, but public transit is inherently the slowest option.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t see how it is &amp;#x27;inherently&amp;#x27; the slowest, especially given the traffic patterns that inherently result from private transit options.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; I have no desire to make 10 stops before I get where I&amp;#x27;m going.&lt;p&gt;The point of public transit in the form of e-scooters and e-bikes is to make your door-to-door commute one trip.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; I also have zero desire to rent my modes, as that encourages literally rent seeking behavior.&lt;p&gt;Most people just care about convenience and price.  Shared mobility options like e-bikes and e-scooters check both boxes if they can reach scale.</text></comment>