"Scooters" (?) business plan

the group in Oz has gps tracking and a van goes out and swaps them over when they need charge. They don't "take them back" unless they haven't been used for a while. It is quite possible to use one to go home from work (if you are within a couple of kilometers of course), leave it on the footpath, and then in the morning hop on it again and go to work. Or if it was flat hop on the fully charged replacement.

They have been there for a couple of years and the gold coast has a similar service - no idea how much money they make

So, they replace the "dead" unit with a fresh one -- and leave it where it was found? Even if it is "off the beaten track"?

Wouldn't I want to stash it someplace where I knew it wouldn't be claimed by another rider? Or, is the GPS reporting of position sensitive enough to bitch if you take it 30 ft from the road?

Yeah, it seems like there's a fair bit of cost involved.

OTOH, if they *weren't* making money, you would think they would have closed up shop (I don't think they are subsidized...?)

They leave them where the sales are.

I would too (like to stash it that is), but they don't seem to. I suspect what happens is when work is over you go to the local (inner city) charge station, ride one home and leave it outside (they are not really kids scooters so no interest there) In the morning you take it back to work and the local charge station and during the day other people ride it around the city) and end of day you just grab which ever one is there and home you go. Whatever happens it seems to work.

I guess it depends on where they consider the sale to have *been*. E.g., I see it at the point where the trip originated -- not where the next trip *might* originate.

This being a good example of the above: clearly there *was* a sale... somewhere *else*! Whether another sale follows from the place where the scooter was left is not yet known.

That would assume such a place is convenient to most potential riders.

Here, there is no real "down-town" that would be representative of the majority of work traffic. The University is a source of potential riders. But, there is a streetcar that services that area so the only need for an "untethered" transport would be if you wanted to

But, if you left it curbside, near your home, what's the guarantee that you will find it there the next morning? (hence my "stash it" strategy). It would be disheartening to plan your morning with the expectation of a *ride* to work -- only to discover that ride isn't available!

What the f*ck do you want? Their business plan works for them. You are just criticizing what you cant be bothered to do. END.

I want to understand their business plan. I don't see others rushing to adopt it.

I have no desire to "do" anything comparable. What makes you think that I would? Did I *claim* I wanted to do so?

The *two* providers, here, logged ~174K trips in a 6 month "trial" period. The average trip being 9 minutes to cover

Assuming none of them were discounted rides (half price), that's 174K flag drops ($174K) and 1.6M "rider minutes" ($454K) to travel 142K miles.

So, $628K of revenue. Municipal fees totalled $73K. As such, a *maximum* of $555K to purchase, maintain and operate their fleets (1000 plus units) over that period.

Ridership waned to *half* of what it was initially.

Here, *residents* develop city and county policy at the ballot box. E.g., we've made *all* photo-enforcement of traffic laws illegal as a response to the implementation decisions left in the hands of legislators and vendors.

So, it makes sense to understand the math behind these business decisions as it portends the likely future of these programs. The more profitable an undertaking, the more likely a vendor will work to continue having access to a market and implementing practices that fit with the wishes of the *entire* population, not the 30K "unique riders" that used the service in that period. Likewise, the less profitable a service proves to be, the more enticement needs to be offered.

I remember the days of smoking in the supermarket, dropping the butts on the floor and thoughtfully stepping on them when finished.