Scoot

The scooters have arrived.

This comes after years of discussion with and advocacy from residents. Part of why Lime pulled out of Hartford was because the City dragged its feet on expanding the contract to include electric scooters, in addition to the bicycles. By the time City of Hartford employees grew more open to the concept, Lime had moved on. I am including this detail not to throw shade but to shed light on what happened, because if one only gets information from social media rumor mills, he may be led to believe that the Lime exit and Link entrance occurred for other reasons.

Electric scooter rentals are something to celebrate. That they even made it here is a step in the right direction — that direction being a move away from Connecticut’s reputation for being stodgy and unwilling to try new things. 

If you need to get somewhere that a bus does not go or when one is not running, this offers another alternative. There are discounts available for those who receive public assistance and there are free rides for those going to Covid-19 vaccine appointments.

It’s better for the environment than a gas-powered car, and makes much more sense in terms of efficiency; does one person need to be moving around in a box that accommodates 4-6 people, but is otherwise empty? This might not suit all residents, but cars do not suit all residents either.

When Lime bikes were in town, there were a few grouchy folks who complained about how the rental bikes were left in the middle of the sidewalk. Those same folks will likely grouse about scooters for the same reason, so the remainder of this post is dedicated to them specifically:

First of all, I wish the general public expressed this level of concern when signs are placed in the middle of sidewalks, when those obnoxious inflatables are parked in the public right-of-way, when restaurants take over entire sidewalks rather than getting patio extensions that use parking spaces instead. I wish the public was this enraged by unshoveled sidewalks all winter. Let’s not forget the mattresses that partially or fully block sidewalks, a more common practice in some neighborhoods than in others.

Yes, scooters, like bike rentals, can be untidy and a nuisance if parked stupidly; however, the majority of people can roll a scooter to the side in about three seconds. When cars block sidewalks, can you do the same? You can’t even move it with another person. Instead, you have to track down the owner. If you’ve ever tried to get someone to move their vehicle, the typical response from the driver is entitled rage.

Then the insincere complaint becomes but what about people who are not able-bodied and can’t move these scooters on their own?

This is where I turn the question around: if you are an able-bodied person, how come you are not routinely keeping sidewalks clear?

I’m not asking why you aren’t carrying a shovel around in the winter. It takes 10-20 minutes to clear the sidewalk, and you’d never get to work given how on some days, 30% of properties are not cleared. But scooters, along with the more common obstructions — hubcaps and bumpers — can be pushed aside in seconds. For those who may have a minute to spare, you can report scooter parking concerns (illegal parking, blocking a path, fallen over) on the Link app. If lamenting scooters on sidewalks, are you alerting 311 every time you encounter a mattress dumped in someone’s path? Or is this a selective concern because you hate change, hate mobility options, hate transportation beyond the status quo?

This weekend, I came upon a scooter. My first reaction was joy that it had made it to my neighborhood. My second was, “better move this over so it doesn’t block the sidewalk.”

I do not work out. I had my hands full. It took about five seconds for me to roll this aside. That’s less time and energy than it would’ve taken me to wail about it on social media.

The problem is not necessarily the scooter. It’s that our sidewalks are often too narrow in the first place, as you can see from the photo. This one was not even parked that wrong, but because pedestrian space has not been prioritized in the same way that car space has been, there’s very little wiggle room.

My point: if you are going to gripe about pedestrians having a tough go, then do it right and do it thoroughly.

Complain about how sidewalks just end, like this one. There is no sidewalk access to Pope Park West. None. To access, you have to either walk in the street or on grass that is always filled with litter.

If you’re going to complain about scooters, then you have to get on 311 and demand that crosswalks be painted and raised so that people have a chance of getting across the street. This photo is of a crosswalk by a busy supermarket. You would think that more would be done to protect people using an essential service.

You would ask why the yield signs on Park Street near Bartholomew and Pope Park Hwy #4 are always pushed to the side instead of on the center yellow. Are business owners or residents moving these signs, or are they being repeatedly struck by drivers who are not being slowed because the road is a race track? What are you doing to demand safer streets all around?

To bring it back, perhaps a visual will help with this what-about-itis. If you are kvetching about scooters impeding wheelchairs, when was the last time you made that kind of stink over the ongoing issue of cars doing the same? The above photo shows a car blocking the sidewalk while two trucks are blocking a bike lane.

Below is a truck parked on sidewalk instead of in the street where there was ample parking. This is on a busy street near a school and was parked like this when children were commuting.

Another obstruction, below, that I photographed in the past couple weeks.

If you are still missing the point, I’ll reiterate it: while scooters may be irritating when parked haphazardly, most people can easily rearrange them and should so that there is passage for folks who are unable to move the obstruction; however, if this is a sore spot that you want to complain about, then you are contractually obligated to also work on the many other more frequent and often more dangerous impediments to safe mobility.

Remember when I mentioned how City of Hartford employees were slow to warm to the idea of scooters? What came up was the issue of safety, and I know that those who are grumpy about sidewalk clutter are just waiting to point out that scooters going to send everyone to the hospital.

Wait ’til you find out about cars.

Last year in Connecticut, at least 60 pedestrians and six cyclists were killed as a result of collisions with motor vehicles.

That does not count the 289 drivers, passengers, and motor vehicle occupants killed in Connecticut in 2020.

As far as the data reflects, there were no fatalities caused by cyclists or scooters colliding with each other or with pedestrians.

Concerned about safety? Actively work to make our streets safer. Petition for barrier-protected bike lanes, repaired sidewalks, speed humps, and other infrastructure that helps to keep people alive. Insist on road diets.