>>We have these in Norwich. The take up to date has been pretty underwhelming
I can't make out which scooters they are, so have no clue as to their performance. However, I think the rental model is quite different to the ownership model.
Taking Santiago as an illustration, though the thinking here is quite different to the UK.
It is a capital city. So it has got a whole lot of business, retail, accomodation, and social enterprises in a small space.
Largely it has not evolved as such. Though perhaps it has downtown. For the large part it has been built in modern times on purpose and so is a much more flexible environment for modern life.
People who buy scooters, like me, are making a lifestyle choice. I simply enjoy it, I like being different, and it suits my ridiculous drinking habits in a world where public transport has been destroyed by civil unrest, certainly later in the day, but that has the most terrifying of drink/driving consequences.
So I bought one.
However, the rental market is different. Thousands, I have no real idea how many, of rental scooters cover the city. Left everywhere. They are all individually montored and recovered / replaced depending on their battery life or need for maintenance.
In a country with totally predicatable and usually dry weather, in a city with wide sidewalks, wide roads and cycle paths everywhere, why wouldn't you?
Imagine a sunny day when you are by the Dominion in London and wish to be in China Town and there are not only cycle paths all the way there is a scooter within 3 metres of you.
It is a ridiculous level of convenience.
The UK can be characterised as being controlled by sensible, responsible adults who worry so much about consequences and what-ifs that they mostly do nothing. Whereas Chile could be characterised as being inhabited by irresponsible fun-loving idiots who pay no attention to consequences.
I believe in the UK model, but I rather enjoy the Chilean approach.
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