"That might be enough to supply some of the dense urban cores, but good luck finding one close by if you’re out in White Center or Northgate."

You clearly have not been to White Center recently. There are scooters strewn all over the place, quite often in groups of threes at intersections. I have yet to see anyone actually riding one (it is White Center, after all), but they are certainly readily available.

I think you are vastly overestimating the demand for these. I hope the ad revenue does help you though.

"“If somebody can’t find a scooter within 200 meters, usage drops off precipitously,” says Jonathan Hopkins, Lime’s Director of Strategic Development for the Northwest and Canada. “You can’t serve the whole city with 500 scooters.”

So you're telling me the shill in charge of selling more scooters says the problem is more scooters needs to be sold? That is definitely some Strategic Development worthy of the Director title.

“If somebody can’t find a scooter within 200 meters, usage drops off precipitously,” says Jonathan Hopkins, Lime’s Director of Strategic Development for the Northwest and Canada.

Yes, obviously. It is just like bikes. This has been known for years. Look at the year of this report: https://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/NACTO_Walkable-Station-Spacing-Is-Key-For-Bike-Share_Sc.pdf.

You need them everywhere if you are going to have lots of riders. But that is exactly why a city like Seattle needs to have docks. If we have thousands and thousands of scooters (or bikes) strewn everywhere, they become a real nuisance. Because unlike smaller cities (like Spokane) we have lots of people walking the streets. Dockless bikes and dockless scooters don't scale. The only thing that does is docks, which manage them quite well in an urban environment. That is why just about every big city has a docked system, and little cities have half-ass dockless scooters and bikes. If The Stranger staff would spend a little time exploring the issue, instead of fawning over the latest company to mine us for data, they would realize that this is a stupid way for a city this urban to address micromobility.

Have to agree about geofenced charging docks

Take out half the private vehicle parking spots on each arterial and replace them with escooter charging docks

"Scooters are an interim solution to..."

Hahahaha. No.

Scooters might be an amusing diversion. But is there anyone over the age of 14 who seriously thinks scooters are a real form of transportation?

Scooters are not a "solution" to anything.

Please explain how I and thousands of other Seattleites are going to drive our kids back and forth to our ex's on a fucking scooter? Bicycles and scooters are not a real option for the majority of people who live here.

Why are you guys so obsessed with these? The lifespan of a rideshare scooter is a few months. Hundreds more will be tossed into the Duwamish because people are assholes. Wasteful much?
Just walk or buy your own damn scooter, it will last much longer.

Seattle sidewalks are for pedestrians and homeless tents and dog shit and bicycles. Not really room for scooters too.