Those rules are incredibly generous with how they allocate incredibly valuable real estate to cars, often for the price of free.

If every other block has enough room on the curb, for 30 cars to be parked for free, then surely, there should be room for one or two scooters to do the same.

Tragedy of the commons is a significant issue. So, if land owners allocate space for them that’s fine. But it’s not legal to leave random junk in public spaces because there is simply not enough space for everyone to be doing this with anything.

Further, public parking is rarely free, it’s being payed for somone and often that’s not the city.

public Parking is free almost anywhere but in in city centers, and it occupies one third of a typical, residential street.

It’s the travesty of the commons.

> public Parking is free almost anywhere but in in city centers, and it occupies one third of a typical, residential street.

And is still regulated, though enforcement tends often to be complaint based, rather than active patrol. Leave a vehicle a few days with moving it and someone complains and it gets tagged and, if left a little while longer, towed as abandoned.

> If every other block has enough room on the curb, for 30 cars to be parked for free, then surely, there should be room for one or two scooters to do the same.

That's pretty much irrelevant as the business model of these scooter services is based on the concept of riders dropping them off wherever they feel like it.

A’right! Give me two lanes o& reserved storag3 space on every road and I’ll never leave them on the sidewalk again.

Yes, there should be. But currently, there isn't.

I can't just throw my bicycle on the sidewalk in front of my office when I get there, either, right?

Hmm? Its not uncommon for there to be freely usable bike racks on most city streets. I see them all over Seattle, predating bikeshares by years in most cases.

Right, so when Bird funds some scooter racks and starts ensuring their scooter are stored there, cities will stop impounding them. In the meantime it's like if I left my bike in the middle of the sidewalk somewhere - if it doesn't get stolen, I can expect it to get cleaned up by some other means.

Edit: While writing another comment it occurred to me that these scooters are exactly like the shopping carts you see abandoned around stores. Either the stores collect them or the city does - but either way they're basically large bits of litter for anyone not in need of a shopping cart at the moment.

I'm sure Bird wouldn't appreciate this analogy, because it's deeply unsexy.

I'm surprised by how brazen they are. Why Bird doesn't get fined for that?

> Its not uncommon for there to be freely usable bike racks on most city streets

Exactly. Specific places to put your bike. Not just a random spot on the sidewalk.

This is one method of getting laws changed.

Donating scooters to the city under the current laws isn't particularly effect give method of getting the laws changed.

Paying the city through impounded scooters would probably be close to the top least cost-effective lobbying method ever.

I think cities have wised up since AinBnB and Uber that saying “we’ll wait and see” while the corporation gets strong is not a winning strategy for regulators.

If getting hundreds of scooters impounded and auctioned off is a good strategy for Bird, their business strategy is too subtle for me to follow.

Civil disobedience is one thing, corporate disobedience is another.

> If every other block has enough room on the curb, for 30 cars to be parked for free, then surely, there should be room for one or two scooters to do the same.

Then...lobby your city for scooter parking. Car parking is supported because people very much want it, and politicians no there is a cost to not having it.