Between Bird, Lime, Uber, and Lyft, pedestrians have an alternative to getting around the city. The fact is that between Bird, Lime, Uber, and Lyft, there are roughly 35,000 rentable electric motorcycles in the city. That’s more scooters than you can shake a GPS at. Playing on the new market economy, as well as advances in GPS technology, self-rental electric scooters offer an alternative to one of Los Angeles’ biggest no-nos. Walking. The truth is, it’s always been very difficult to walk in Los Angeles neighborhoods, given the fact that everyone drives by. I’ve walked for miles in other cities like San Francisco, New York, and London and those places seem made for walking. Here in Los Angeles, if one wants to walk, they usually need to join a gym and go for a run. For some strange, indefinable reason, walking in Los Angeles has always been home to the brave. There are plenty of “outings” in the Runyon Valley, where actors and writers get their weekly dose of fresh air, exercise and the humiliation of being swept away by someone thinner, younger, more successful. That’s the factor of living in Los Angeles. No matter what you have, there’s always someone who has something a little better. One of the rules of survival in Los Angeles is to get over it and get on with it. GPS electric scooters are great!
More than affordable
Scooter rental prices are really very reasonable. For Lime, for example, it will cost you $1 to unlock the scooter, then 15 cents per minute. All you have to do is download the app to your phone, enter your payment details, then use the app to find the nearest fully charged scooter and you’re on your way! It’s a great way to get from here to there over short distances, but it can be dangerous. All scooters come with a warning not to ride on the sidewalk, but everyone does it. Driving on the street – although I’ve seen it – can be very dangerous for obvious reasons. So, for me, I park my car a few blocks away late at night, then I take a motorcycle home, and it can cost less than $2. When added up for the month, my parking costs are well under $50. 
Midnight recharge elves
You may be wondering how to recharge these power tools? Good question. When everyone is asleep, indoors, and preparing to fight the next day, the silent men and women sweep the streets, find the scooters, pack them into their pickup trucks, take them home and recharge them. And they seem to get good money for it too. Lime calls its rechargers “lemon juicers.”
Giving a knee to the environment
I live in Hollywood. Right on Sunset Boulevard. Parking around my place is almost impossible. From caravans of homeless people invading entire streets, to local film productions closing off streets for filming, to Netflix taking over an entire neighborhood, parking has become the number one sport in my village. I injured my knee a few months ago, so walking is a bit limited for me at the moment. What I usually do when I get home is circle the blocks in the hood of my car, trying to find the closest spot possible. One is legal and will allow me to sleep as long as possible. If it’s too far away and I’m too tired at the end of the night, I’ll take a scooter home. It’s actually rather fun! I highly recommend it. Although you will inevitably end up looking like a bloated baby. In the end, what’s wrong with that!
For Hollywood Dog, that was the case Steven Alan Green 02/24/20
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