Rant

I caught one of those motherfuckers who needlessly park shared e-scooters in bicycle racks. He seemed to be taking a picture of his sabotage of the space cyclists need to lock their bicycle to.

Why is this plague of Google-boot-licking shared e-scooter people attacking our bicycle racks (I have been wondering)?

There are laws banning those scooters from blocking sidewalks and doorways. I assume the e-scooter company would get the fine for illegal parking, which they would need to pass on. So (I’m guessing) users photograph their parking job for self-defense from a fine. Is that correct?

Are they just keeping a personal copy of those photos, or does the app require users to transmit the photos? If they are being transmitted, does that mean the e-scooter companies are complicit in a limited resource (bicycle racks) getting clusterfucked?

What is the recourse for individual action? Ideas:

• stack the scooters in a pile in the bushes whenever the racks are fully packed by shared scooters.
• put stickers with a red prohibited sign over a scooter on the racks. But of course the problem with that is that it’s fair enough if a personal scooter is locked to a rack. And also unlocked/shared bicycles are the same problem. What is a graphical symbol that represents shared micromobiles but not personal ones? We could list them out (Lime, Bolt, Dott, Volt, etc) but there are too many and they keep changing. Would an e-scooter with a wi-fi symbol be clear?
• lock the shared vehicles to the racks where they sit. It’s sacraficial, but sends a msg that costs them money (thus a msg that will not be ignored). Not cheap for the activist.
• pile the shared machines together and lock them together, perhaps using the built-in lock from one of the shared e-bikes.