Missive from the Dept of the Bleeding Obvious: e-scooters are not active transport

[Exlaser2]

These choices are not binary, IMHO.
[/QUOTE]

The most important point made so far is, in my view.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I wonder if we could persuade people that the cool option was to turn the scooter on and run alongside it?

We could call it E-Jogging.

 

[Webbo2]

On the flat leisurely cycling uses is far more efficient than walking
Uphill is clearly different
as is riding into a head wind after a certain point

random link what shows this - better ones are probably around

https://annex.exploratorium.edu/cycling/humanpower1.html

So unless all your bike rides are on the flat going one way slowly , with the wind behind you. You will burn more calories cycling than walking.

 

[winjim]

So what ? I think most of us already knew that.
But if they do get people out of their four wheeled boxes so there are many benefits to the environment, first and foremost possibly helping to reduce the number of car journeys.

Sometimes common sense assumptions do need to be tested. Phlogiston was a common sense theory at one point.

The thing I take home from the article in the OP is that e-scooters are being used as a replacement for walking, not as a replacement for driving. That means there's work to do in oder to, as you say, get people out of their four wheeled boxes.

It's frustrating, with e-bikes and e-scooters we have the technology to completely transform the urban commuting environment but progress seems painfully slow.

Saying that though, see my recent posts about infrastructure work in Sheffield. There's a long way to go and I'm sure I'll grumble in the manner of making the perfect the enemy of the good, but I am seeing tangible improvement so credit where it's due.

 

[Drago]

@Drago Where did I say DID ? I said IF and POSSIBLY.
No need to be so combative. Did the council meeting go badly? 😂😀

I never said you did at all. The getting them out of cars claim is the rubbish the trial scooter companies are trotting out.

And in any event, my post was quite polite.

So why you've got your knickers in a twist over a polite post not aimed at you is for you to answer, not me to justify.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

So unless all your bike rides are on the flat going one way slowly , with the wind behind you. You will burn more calories cycling than walking.

No - but after a still day on flat land
then it becomes a sliding scale - after a while walking if more efficient

which we know because if you are going up a steep hill then we know that riding get very difficult and walking is easier

basically - look it up - but it is easier to go to the shops on a bike than walk
unless there is a big hill in the way

 

[Webbo2]

No - but after a still day on flat land
then it becomes a sliding scale - after a while walking if more efficient

which we know because if you are going up a steep hill then we know that riding get very difficult and walking is easier

basically - look it up - but it is easier to go to the shops on a bike than walk
unless there is a big hill in the way

I don’t need to look it up as I can look at my Wahoo unit which gives me reasonable account of calories used on a ride and there’s no way I using anything like that walking. I would be riding at a speed that would barely keep me up right for it to be be comparable.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I don’t need to look it up as I can look at my Wahoo unit which gives me reasonable account of calories used on a ride and there’s no way I using anything like that walking. I would be riding at a speed that would barely keep me up right for it to be be comparable.

You could look at the link I posted and see if other studies match it
I think they do but if you find otherwise let me know

 

[matticus]

Sometimes common sense assumptions do need to be tested. Phlogiston was a common sense theory at one point.

The thing I take home from the article in the OP is that e-scooters are being used as a replacement for walking, not as a replacement for driving. That means there's work to do in oder to, as you say, get people out of their four wheeled boxes.

My thoughts exactly. I too thought eScooters WOULD improve low-carbon mobility, reduce car trips etc .... but my intuition seems to be proved wrong!

 

[Drago]

For the most part drivers wont be enticed from their cars willingly. They have to be forced, dragged kicking and screaming, and even then theyll still try and find a way to drive.

 

[Exlaser2]

I never said you did at all. The getting them out of cars claim is the rubbish the trial scooter companies are trotting out.

And in any event, my post was quite polite.

So why you've got your knickers in a twist over a polite post not aimed at you is for you to answer, not me to justify.

Sorry if got the wrong end of the stick .

 

[Drago]

And my apologies if I inadvertently caused confusion.

 

[Webbo2]

You could look at the link I posted and see if other studies match it
I think they do but if you find otherwise let me know

Nip over to North Yorkshire and we’ll go for a ride you on your Ebike, me on my non Ebike. After 2 hours you can then tell me it’s easier than walking.🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[presta]

If you are using more energy walking than cycling you must be cycling very, very slowly or going downhill all day.

Cycling uses about a third of the energy of walking, nobody would have seen the point of bikes in the first place if they used more energy than walking.

(Ref: ACSM Compendium of Physical Activity)

which we know because if you are going up a steep hill then we know that riding get very difficult and walking is easier

People get off and walk because they can't balance the bike a slow enough pace, not because it's less efficient (and because there's no point in providing a gear low enough for a speed you can't balance at). The reason cycling is more efficient than walking is that when you walk, you're lifting your entire bodyweight slightly with every step.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I would like to think that there is a middle point that I can go to when I cannot/"no longer feel I should" drive a car
and a mobility scooter

I can use my bike - clearly - but a scooter would be easier to store and get out
and could possibly even be folded and stored indoors rather than having to go out and unlock the shed and all that
maybe

Walking down a narrow back street in Weymouth last week and saw a weird looking vehicle sign written for the local taxi company. Spoke to the driver and it's used to advertise the company as it looks so funky. It was a Renault Twizzy. I think youngsters in France can drive them ( or similar) from the age of 14.