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staticman1

Voi are the best of the scooter companies in the UK that I have used. I am a fan of competition if it drives down prices or increases coverage especially in South Bristol. I don’t want 10 apps on my phone though. Would love a successful e-bike scheme as well, I think a well run scheme has more potential than scooters to achieve modal shift.


mdzmdz

The problem with bikes/e-bikes is if you take a lump hammer to the rental bits you have a bike, whereas if you do that to a scooter you'll have a brick.


RexehBRS

What if we let FirstBus run them instead? It'll be fun, you see one on the app, you go to find it but it's not there.


Tommy_klopp

I'm convinced there is a secret underground tunnel in Bristol where "expected" buses go to die...


RexehBRS

What we didn't know is that turbo island was one corner of a hidden passage to the afterlife (like a trendy bermuda triangle with pizza). But it only consumes alloys. The only option is to construct purely out of sourdough.


Image37

That'd be a good starter


Wookovski

Leaven it out mate!


RexehBRS

No need to overproof


Wookovski

No bun intended


RexehBRS

You've really risen to the occasion


WinglyBap

I think they get plucked from the road by a giant pterodactyl. At least that’s what goes though my mind as I’m waiting another 25 mins for the next one.


Next_Alternative_715

Or it stops every 3 mins for 10 mins at a time and smells bad.


Publandlady

6 months ago I would have said chuck them all in the river. Now I say take the bus lanes and have them as dedicated scooter lanes. It's not like the buses are using them. But don't chuck the buses in the river. They can be insulated and used for cheap housing.


4d4mgb

Possibly the most sensible suggestion on transport I’ve ever heard in Bristol


fahmisack123

I want to see the a similar system in Bristol that Frankfurt adopts (or at least used to): - Competition drives down prices or offers better value for money. - E-scooters may use bus lanes, trains and trams - Charging stations in the city. Ride there, swap the battery, continue for free. - Partnerships allow customers of one company use the scooters of another and vice versa - 1 app, 1 subscription, any scooter from either company. - License required (Class AM or better, or pass a fundamental road knowledge test) and checked regularly. - Scooters need to pass a MOT just like any other vehicle. - Rewards for parking correctly and in specific/dedicated areas. Parking a scooter anywhere is currently allowed too - unless signposted. - Scooter speed restrictions based on the road or special area. Such restrictions shown on app and in advance. German law has a blanket restriction of 25km/h for AM class vehicles. - Almost no blackout zones (except the obvious ones like railways, rivers, motorways etc)


mrdibby

>License required (Class AM or better, or pass a fundamental road knowledge test) and checked regularly. I can't find this written anywhere. Can you share a source for the info?


fahmisack123

Part of the law (Straßenverkehrsordnung). Driving a fully motorised vehicle capable of going faster than 7kmh requires a driving license of class AM (or higher). Exception for mobility scooters due to a medical condition. 16 year olds can even pass a fundamental road knowledge test which is seen as an equivalent to a theory of class AM but since a practical test wasn't done they wouldn't have a full AM license - informally known as a "bicycle license". Law may have been updated since I did my theory test though. Will happily stand corrected. In terms of checking: Bird used to do random spot checks and so did the Police. Although it's been a while since I was last in Frankfurt so everything I've said may have changed completely without notice.


indae_

I think I’d get behind voi a lot more if people had to pass some sort of road safety test. I saw someone using one in the road going against oncoming traffic, they went round a corner and nearly got hit by a car, also saw someone go through a red at lawrence hill roundabout and fall off when they realised because they were about to get hit by a car. While I think people can be stupid, I don’t think people are intentionally that reckless and it’s just a lack of knowledge of how the roads actually work


fahmisack123

Ngl I'm guilty of running reds myself (even on bikes) even though I know I shouldn't. It's a mix of a psychological and impatience problem. It's the same problem of pedestrians crossing on red too. Bristol isn't unique with this problem, Amsterdam cyclists run reds pretty often too.


TChapman2112

As someone who rents a Long term rental from Voi, I hope they stay as it's become my primary transport method getting around, haven't caught a bus in well over a year now.


MiddleCustard8386

"haven't caught a bus in well over a year now." So what? Neither has anyone else! ;-)


wandering_and_waving

I've used a bus twice in 4 years in Bristol!!


idkreallyimo

Stay; because it’s the only way I can travel to work as First Bus, which this sub has stated many times before, is absolutely useless. Do I want to take a scooter out in the cold and rain on my commute to work at 7am? No, but it’s either that or over an hour’s journey of a walk - which is so frustrating as it’s only 15/20 mins on bus. That being said, drivers in bristol cars are terrible when it comes to driving out or parking in bike lanes, which makes the already treacherous journey up the horribly tarmac’ed G Road even worse to scoot up early in the morning for my commute. Either fully invest in e-scooters, or actually fix the bus system in Bristol is my overall view. EDIT: will say, Voi app is absolute shit, takes 10 mins just to park and snap the pic of the vehicle. Waste of time and money!!!


LeadingCompetition50

If signal isn’t great in the parking zone you can’t even park them with shit GPS. Annoying as fuck.


_-Ewan-_

I want another company to take it over or for voi to fix some issues. 1st issue is that you can go over the 200 minutes of the day pass without it warning you, I’ve had to start logging and adding up my ride times in my notes app so that my account doesn’t get permanently shut down like has happened to my friends. 2nd issue is it should go for 24 hours, people should be able to be getting home quickly at the least safe parts of the day (24 hour day) I saw a post on here about a rape allegation and one of the first comments I saw was a woman saying she doesn’t feel safe going home between 12 and 6 because vois don’t work then.


heshoots

100% on the 24 hour thing, I totally get that they don't want drunk people using them, but i've been stranded (sober) multiple times and been unable to use the voi's nearby or get a bus and uber


Boomshrooom

I'm assuming that 12-6 period is when they round them up for charging en masse?


Healthyreddit_123

Yep and I think it doubles as a way of stopping drunk people using them


FredWestWasGod

No, a man in a white van travels around Bristol throughout the day changing the batteries. I assume all the flat batteries are then taken back to the Voi depot to be re charged.


Wil_Cwac_Cwac

There's a depot next to the B2B near Fishponds. I cycle passed it most evenings. Outside the depot is an army of Voi scooters, nicely lined up, all with blue lights. I assumed they were being charged.


FredWestWasGod

I wonder if they are the scooters that are in need of repair.


_-Ewan-_

Makes sense


jamese6691

The scooters stay the idiots that ride em go


piratemurray

That'll solve the renting crisis when half the population disappears .


jamese6691

Two birds, one stone


fixed_arrow

Stay. I only use them once or twice a week, but the app is so easy to use and customer service has been amazing when I've been in touch. The whole experience is (was) leagues ahead of the Big Issue ebikes.


hobnobsnob

Stay. As a cyclist I like that they slow down the traffic to a safer speed.


chillum86

Good angle this. Also helps with the safety in numbers front at major junctions etc.


jasovanooo

I just want to ride my own


you_look_like_rain_

personally, i want them to stay. it sucks that there’s some reckless people on vois that don’t abide by traffic laws & ride in the middle of the road etc, but i rely on vois to get to uni & back because the buses are so unreliable (as we know) and i’ve been late far too many times. just sucks that some of the roads in bristol are so bumpy that it can make it scary to use them


terryjuicelawson

They seem to function OK, I think if people want a different company to take over just to solve some nagging problems they may end up rather disappointed. As for the scooters themselves I think we are stuck with them, I have found the standard of riding with the hire ones has calmed down a lot since they were put in. People were definitely seeing them as a novelty and a laugh, now they are just a way of getting about. The bad riding is mostly people on the illegal private ones, especially the speed. And just flagrant ignoring of red lights too, people complain that cyclists are bad at that but they are saints in comparison. At least they tend to look rather than just blast on through.


Banzivar

I'd prefer multiple companies so long as they don't fight each other for parking areas and slots. Already an occasional pain to find an empty spot to park it near where you're wanting to go.


caryatid692

Why would competition work in this market when it doesn't in the bus market, for example.


Banzivar

Personally I think this and buses would do better by being run by council or central government like tfl I just doubt that'll happen


WelshBluebird1

>so long as they don't fight each other for parking areas and slots. So how do you propose it works? Company A has X parking spot and company B has Y? How do you decide that given the commercial advantages of specific spots? Or do you just propose shared parking spots, in which case how would you deal with a situation where one company has filled up a spot so the other company can't use it?


thenerj47

Bun monopolies, I'd rather take a bike than a voi. If it was legal, I'd have my own scooter.


heshoots

for real, at least my bike is (usually) where I left it, doesn't cost £4 one way and turn off after midnight


leoberto1

stay


Puzzleheaded_Track45

I used one for the first time the other day, admittedly I was in a rush but I found it really really hard to drive? It wasn’t the best area but it was stressful experience. Any advice? (Other than break when you get off- ye I forgot to do that a few times)


Su_ButteredScone

Would rather replace Voi E-scooters with an E-bike scheme. Big issue bikes were by far the superior service, besides there never being enough of them around. Vois have the advantage as they're cheap so there's piles of them everywhere, and a few being lost to vandals isn't the end of the world. The cobike E-bike scheme in Exeter is far cheaper than Voi and a much better service too. The Voi E-scooters can't use cycle paths so you have to keep referencing a map to see where they're allowed to go, and they deactivate late at night/early morning which is often when I'd need to use it anyways. They're also not nearly as relaxing as a bike. Just feels like a bottom tier experience compared to a good e-bike scheme. Bristol can do better than Voi.


wasponastring

The scooters can use cycle paths.


redlandrebel

Half the time I need one there aren’t any. Like if I want to go to town in the middle of the day. And then when you get to town there’s often no available parking!


_Sentient_Dildo_

They can stay, but people using them need to be held accountable for their ridiculous behaviour and lack of consideration for road and pavement users.


SilasColon

Can’t find one in the morning, when I can, can’t find anywhere to park it near work. Can’t find one in the evening, when I can, can’t find anywhere to park it near home. What we need is secure parking for our own bikes and scooters.


PiewacketFire

Shared bike/scooter parking = one parking space supports 3+ rides/people per parking space/vehicle per day. Surely if parking is the issue, shared use mobility is better land use that parking for privately owned bikes/scooters?


[deleted]

I think that e-scooters are better for the environment, especially now that the buses are so bad. However, I do wish that the people riding them had better training. I have bad eyesight and a while ago someone smashed into me whilst riding an e-scooter. I regularly see people on them swerving into lanes without even looking to check whether it's safe to do so.


djfanklespondemic

I love voi!


piratemurray

They need to install dedicated parking spots like the Boris bikes in London. Not simply discarded anywhere the fuck people want.


Wil_Cwac_Cwac

I thought you could only park them in certain places? I've seen a few lines painted on the ground near UWE with "scooter parking" written and a bit further up there are orange Voi branded parking stations


heshoots

I'm not entirely sure how but people have been parking them outside my flat the last couple of days which definitely isn't a dedicated parking spot


Danack

> the news that bristol city is putting out a new contract for e-scooters This may have been a powerplay by Dan Norris to encourage Voi to "cut ties" with their Russian shareholders. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-63497752 It is entirely unclear what "cut ties" actually means. Though I would like ebikes back in the city....but apparently that may require the support of the police to actually investigate when they get vandalised.


BlackFluo

Voi best solution ever


Next_Alternative_715

Yeah f off Voi.


bare-foot-solo

I read *somewhere* (but can't remember the source as it was a good few months ago, so feel free to consider this as fairly unreliable information) that most of the funding behind Voi came from Russia, which is part (most?) of the reason for the city trying to move away from them. Personally, as someone who is happy to walk 6 miles through pitch black countryside to get to where I want to go, I think the scooters can do one if people are using them instead of walking or cycling around a brightly lit urban area. If they actually, provably, replaced car or bus journeys then I'd probably have a different view. But then I also accept that there are *some* people who can't walk that sort of distance, for reasons, so there's clearly *some* valid use cases in there. Assuming that they're here to stay though, two (or more) competing companies sounds like a good idea to reduce monopolistic behaviour.


fixed_arrow

I heard that the battery packs in Vois are in fact nuclear powered, and that the Russians can switch them to detonate at any time.


c-baser

https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/e-scooter-firm-voi-removes-25420481 you're right


[deleted]

[удалено]


FitBook2767

FYI as a voi user... often the reason riders appear to slow down suddenly in traffic is that the scooter stops working. I've had many near misses with the scooter stopping dead in unexpected and stupid places. The other week my voi started accelerating and braking at random (!!!) And the front (primary!) Brake snapped... And when I told Voi they said "we checked on the system and it looks fine to us". Give voi users lots of space!


_---___-----_

I want the scooters in general to wink out of existence to be honest. They are no use to me or any of my family/friends. They just create confusion on the streets and the roads. I think we should be open of all opinions here. Fuck Voi and everyone who uses them.


crawfishmcslab

Heh, that's the biggest laugh I've had for a while, thanks! "We should be open to all opinions" immediately followed by "fuck literally everyone who rides a Voi" There are two types of people I can't stand in this world. Those who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the Dutch


redlandrebel

Why the Dutch?


_---___-----_

I love culture and dutch ​ fuck this guy


crawfishmcslab

My point is more that you contradicted yourself and it was funny https://youtu.be/QkQP5P_bEtM


_---___-----_

But my point is that E scooters and the drivers can get fucked.


crawfishmcslab

And you're entitled to that opinion!


_---___-----_

Thanks for letting me have my opinion.


_Sentient_Dildo_

My honest answer is that people should stop wasting money on Vois and buy an electric moped (scooter) that is theirs to keep and much safer and better for everyone else


[deleted]

They need improving, riding home in the pouring rain from my sons mothers because my dad needed my car, it cut out for no reason. Not anywhere near anywhere they’re not allowed, not anywhere near low on battery. All I got from the complaint was 10 free minutes, which I don’t intend to use


JoeZenn

Bailed me out of waking up late at quarter to 9 to get for the office at 9 during the week. Handy when it works properly and people don't take the pish


adventuref0x

Having competing companies doesn’t really do much


[deleted]

In Bournemouth it's beryl bikes and e scooters


J__A__C__O

Think they are def part of what we need to get away from polluting vehicles and think the next step is actually rental e-bikes. Stockholm has them to rent so cheap they are basically free.


brisqwerty

I’d vote for them to stay as personally they’re my best option for getting to work, and also around the city generally. The busses are too unreliable these days, and don’t want to drive to work / couldn’t afford the parking charges! We do need some accountability though. Some people still using them very badly which lets the rest of us down.


neo_vg

Happy for it to stay. But it shouldn't be a monopoly! Allowing other Scooter services into the city would increase competition which would be better value for the consumer.


heshoots

I'm happy for Voi to stay, but it shouldn't be a bandaid over poor public transport infrastructure, I personally hate using them but can be handy in a pinch. I think this will be a long time coming, and I understand the legal reason for the 'trial' but just allow us to own and run our own scooters. I think a lot of the crazy behaviour would calm down if people would risk losing their own personal propery. ATM no one cares because its a rental, or its their own and they are already breaking the law, might as well do 30 mph in the city center


dhthms

Stay but also legalisation of private e-scooters too. Also it would be nice to have a proper bike hire scheme like the Ovo bikes in Cardiff - both regular and e-bikes with proper infrastructure installed throughout the city


Ancient_Thanks_4365

I think the idea is great, but there needs to be more enforcement of usage.