This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Well, it's obviously the initial reaction to a relative novelty. I heard last week that apparently there are moves being made to legalise them in Germany (but haven't looked into it any further).

I'm in two minds about them. I agree with the emissions angle, although I cordially dislike the fact that people don't exercise while using them. I also strongly suspect that for the most part they'll be used to complement public transport. I don't know how easy it is to carry one on a crowded train or bus, but it's probably doable.

Generally, I think that if there's a motorised, low-impact solution available, it will replace more cycle trips than it will replace other motorised trips. For instance, when scooters became so common around 2004 or so (this was apparently because they were being sold with a year's free insurance, I was once told), I got the strong anecdotal impression that their use was impeding the cycling boom that had started to happen around this time. The general tendency that has prevailed for decades all over Europe is that the average length of trips and the need to travel have continually increased, and this has prompted much more motorised travel everywhere, whether by public or private transport. Where cycling has increased, this has generally only been because of localised population increases, e.g. in cities like London, and because of political measures to reduce motor traffic in centres (although these have usually resulted in much more motor traffic around the perimeter of towns, e.g. where ring roads were built to 'complement' the progressive measures in the centres).

I'm not convinced that the use of these scooters is going to be that much of a good thing.

I see a few a day and I agree with you. Their use benefits us all through lower emissions and less strain on the buses/tubes etc. And the people I see riding them are definitely not people who would otherwise ride or walk. Seem to be people who dress smart for work and don't want to sweat etc. This is backed up by the one person I know who owns one and he definitely fits the category.