Catching the bus is my main way to get into the city centre, though on rare occasions I drive or e-scooter. I found that catching the bus is sometimes useful on short trips, such as going to the bakery (if the bus is every 10 minutes). Really great for me since I don’t have a job right now, but if I get a job again I’ll need a car, because employers insist.
I don’t like owning a car because other tenants can suddenly move in and block me off with their car, which they expect to park on the driveway too. All the nearby streets have problems with parking. An e-scooter would suit me most of the time. I could sell my car, buy an e-scooter, motorcycle helmet, rain-repelling pants and gumboots. ** Just a couple of problems:**
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safety - a guy I know recently had an accident in the Opawa/Sydenham area and broke his shoulder + other bones. I was told that he wasn’t hit by a car, apparently he lost traction and fell off. Maybe he was going 30 km/ph if not 40 km/ph, but I don’t know. Based on the injuries he wouldn’t have been going under 20 km/ph.
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winter - traction problems and visibility at their worst, potentially for months. So far, this winter has been mild. Most times 11am - 5pm are good temperature for an e-scooter, without too much moisture on the road. Next winter might be colder and less suitable for an e-scooter.
I could use the bus in winter, borrow a car from family, or rent a Zilch vehicle for 4 hours every 1-2 weeks. Everything else should be possible on a scooter, most days. Part of the trick is to buy a large enough backpack from the Army & Outdoors store!
Transport in Christchurch is troublesome, because of the city’s one storey high design. Employers expect me to pay for fuel and then drive several kilometres to get to work, because there’s no way I can find a rental that’s near a job, or which has a suitable bus route for getting to a job. With the increases to rent, fuel and food, I think I’ll give up driving before I give up anything else. To hell with what employers expect.
So I guess the reason I made this thread is to speculate that I’ll be one of the test subjects for e-scooter ownership in Christchurch. I’m not a competitive, angry person who tries to flex on other road users. I used to speed constantly in a Mazda mx5 without giving a damn but now I drive a more modest vehicle, and I notice how many people overtake me even when I’m driving slightly above the limit. Sometimes I like to drive 30 or 40 km/ph on narrow streets because I don’t want to kill a cat or someone’s child. It may be legal to drive at 50km/ph but that’s not always safe. Luckily, motorists are surprisingly courteous on narrow roads when they are forced to yield or get through a small gap.
Affordable apartments (complete with bikesheds) are still 5 or 10 years away, so I expect that public transport won’t get more routes or become much more popular. E-scooters may be the fix we require. I’d rather ride my bike but I can’t store that in my bedroom. Most boarding houses are just a bedroom and nothing else, so I think an e-scooter is the way to go.
If it makes me unemployable to some employers that’s just too bad. In the current situation I doubt I’ll save up enough money to buy a car again (cue for someone to suggest I buy a piece of shit for $1,000)
We have to move with the times and accept that not everybody can own a car and afford a place to park it, where it won’t be blocked off by new tenants moving in, who also wish to use the driveway. We’ve been warned since last year that 91 fuel could reach $3 a litre and we’re only a few months away from that. If I give up my car this spring-summer-autumn it will save me at least $1,000 on insurance and fuel. Not even that much, but I think the lifestyle change will be the selling point. I just hope I don’t get killed lol
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I dream of a time when there is no need to own a car at all. When you need to travel, you just hail a driverless electric vehicle that transports you door to door. Good for you, I say.
Having commuted on smallish motorbikes and bicycles much of my earlier life, I can suggest two things - claim the lane when appropriate and always, always, always eyeball the driver coming the other way, particularly on a round-a-bout.
Wet and cold weather is not a problem with the right wet weather gear.
Why an E-scooter over an E-bike? Is space an issue?
I would love to ride a bicycle or E-bike to work, but I’d absolutely get run over by some inbred driving the F250 his mommy bought him. There are no shoulders and no sidewalks in the allegedly developed country I live in.
Try dragging a bike up a flight of stairs to the second floor.
Yeah, mine is around 30kg and there are several local tracks I can’t use because I can’t get it over gates and stiles without help.
Yup that would be a problem.
Although, I once rode a Suzuki DR650 (Large, road legal dirt bike) up some stairs to the 2nd floor, but I understand that lugging a heavy E-Bike up the stairs is no fun after a long day of work.
I’m looking at an e-bike. I’m really not comfortable going high speeds on scooters. Bikes are much more comfortable at speed due to the lower centre of gravity. Plus it gives me the option of carrying cargo, making it a full car “replacement” (not that I have one to begin with).
I also know someone who annihilated himself on an e-scooter. One second he’s cruising along, happy as larry, next second the scooter is no longer underneath him and he’s still traveling 25kph. Broke his jaw and his wrist. I avoid them when I can, much prefer my ebike or public transport.
Car-dependent urban sprawl and a lack of housing intensification is your main challenge here. Council is planning towards a “turn up and go” system of public transport with 7 minute cadences but it’s a few years away yet for some reason.
Have you considered a moped or cheap motorbike, out of interest?
Mopeds in particular are ridiculously cheap to run, registration is very cheap, and they don’t need a WOF. You can also ride them on a class one licence. Also a surprising amount of storage.
I’m in a completely different location (Vancouver), and am an overweight 53 year old. In my case at this point it makes sense for me to rent escooters when I need them. I don’t know if you have that option, but I recommend it if you can. It’s a great way to compare the cost, comfort, and utility of having a scooter.
It’s good, but most of the e-scooters in my area seem to be far away, broken, or locked in someone’s house.
Yeah I love the people who hoard the scooter on their property. Got yelled at once because I’d booked a lime that some dude had parked up under his carport. What the heck dude.
We need a three wheel solution like an e scooter. Easy for everybody to ride, safer in the winter etc.
