I live in a city where public transportation is overcrowded, there’s constant vehicle traffic, and you can’t depend on any commute time for a given day or hour. The average temperature is very high, so walking is a sweaty affair.

The only way I’ve found to make this city more usable is with an ebike and scooter. It’s like the perfect vehicle for these conditions.

However, many people reject the technology and either choose their car or other forms of getting around.

Is it because it’s not well understood, or seems too expensive?

I’m curious what sold you on the technology or what is the reason you’re not making the leap.

  • Flying SquidEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    Definitely, but you can’t expect infrastructure like you have in a city that you do outside city limits where both I live and where I work is. At some point, you just can’t expect the money to be spent on that sort of infrastructure. I absolutely believe cities should move to be as carless and pedestrian and bike-friendly as possible, but you’re not going to see that on county roads or rural stretches of highway.

    • @nucleativeOPMEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      I totally agree with this, micromobility isn’t meant for 5+ miles/kilometers as that’s the domain of larger vehicles that can handle speed.

      Can I ask why you don’t live in micromobility range and how that decision might be impacted of the cost of a car were eliminated?

      • Flying SquidEnglish
        1•1 year ago

        Again, the place I work is not inside city limits. It’s in a rural industrial park. Even if I moved to city limits, it still wouldn’t be practical for me to bike to work because it doesn’t solve many of the problems and create new ones. You might as well ask why I don’t just get a different job. Which is getting to be unreasonable.

        • @nucleativeOPMEnglish
          2•1 year ago

          Fair enough, it doesn’t seem like your stuation is one that micromobility attempts to address.

          When I was much younger I lived at a place about an hours drive away from my work a decided that I’d rather pay more to live in a smaller place, closer to the workplace and regain almost 10 hours of my week. It was worth it to me. But I know it’s a matter of preference and ability as I didn’t need a larger home at the time.

          Now that I’m in a city center (of a huge city, metro area more than 10 million people) for similar reasons, micromobility is a natural fit.