Just came back from Austin (way smaller than Dallas) and it was during a large event weekend (F1 weekend). We used the electric scooters pretty much the entire weekend to get around the city, it was really good, much faster and efficient than taking an Uber/Lyft or driving. Most of the larger streets had a bike only lane and we never felt unsafe (my 70yo dad was riding with me on another scooter). Overall, I think that when combined with a good planning strategy from the city these types of micro transport could be something really good. I still think that good public transportation should be the goal here, but that requires way more infrastructure investment, and electric scooters or bikes could be the next best trade off.
I was there that weekend myself and had a sukkah experience. I could imagine a certain type of person complaining about them - eg they are uttering sidewalks, left lying about here and there - but fundamentally it was great. The scooters are everywhere, with dedicated lanes, being ridden by everyone (locals and tourists) and the streets are wide and well marked. I lived in SF for ten years and it always felt like I was taking my life into my own hands on one there - but it felt like a “supported” mobility option in Austin. My friend and I looked at our credit cards and we each took 19 (!!) scooter rides in the ~72 hours we were there.
I should add though - they are dangerous, even when we’ll done, and riders shouldn’t be cavalier. I fell once (I’m coordinated and competent - but a crack in a sidewalk, in broad daylight, got me) and feel extremely lucky to have gotten away with nothing more than a skinned knee and palm.
Is it legal to ride on them on the sidewalk? Where I live it is not. It is, in fact, dangerous for walking humans to coexist with scooters on the sidewalk. I personally had many close calls and a few bumps. The close calls would have been serious, possibly fatal, had I not jumped out of the way.
I wonder just how spiky your clothes could be before you'd get cited for incitement to danger. Is it illegal to walk around looking like a discount dime-store Sauron?
