Honestly, seeing them zipping around everywhere they look pretty good on the face of it. The advantages seem obvious:
- Save time versus walking
- Quiet
- No effect on local air quality
The main issue is them colliding with pedestrians, but (similar to bike lanes) that’s a thing town planners should deal with by creating the right environment.
I’m willing to change my view if people tell me good reasons they are bad.
Yes, there is more environmental impact than a bicycle, but not than an e-bike, and they seem to be good for people reluctant to cycle.
Peep what happened in Portland, OR when the scooters got out of control and people showed they couldn’t be responsible with them. People started throwing them off of bridges into the river, or on top of inaccessible business roofs.
Other people collected them and turned them back in hoping for reward money, even using grappling hooks and other goofy things to pull them off the roofs they weren’t allowed on.
They’re a menace for pedestrians, especially if you live anywhere near a college campus.
Yes, like I said, these are all problems with the dockless rental model, not with escooters