Transit stop not in walking distance? Try this cool new electric skateboard!

[KamaAina]

Silicon Valley innovation at its best.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/34840/could+this+tiny+electric+vehicle+change+transportation+forever/

A tiny company in Palo Alto, California, founded by some Stanford University students has the potential to change the way we travel.

Boosted Boards has introduced a prototype of what it's calling "the lightest electric vehicle that's ever been made"--a longboard electric skateboard that the company hopes will easily and quickly transport commuters from wherever their bus or train stops to wherever it is they actually want to be.

"The last mile of transportation is this huge problem that hasn't been solved yet," Boosted Boards co-founder Sanjay Dastoor said in the company's promotional video below. "Once you get off of a public transit system, whether it's a bus or a train or anything else, how do you get along that last mile to your destination? What Boosted Boards does is gives you a really portable vehicle that you can use in conjunction with public transit."

[nxylas]

1. The only time I used a skateboard...

...I put one foot on it, then the other, it slid out from under me and I fell over and bashed my head really hard against a stone wall. Put me off the things for life.

[happyslug]

2. Can't people WALK, a mile is NOT that long

People can walk about a mile in 60 minutes. The US Army wants soldiers to do 120 paces per minute, assuming that is 30 inches (which is the average stride for males, for females it is about 27 inches) that means 3600 inches (3240 inches for women) per minute, or 300 feet (270 feet for Women) per minute. Given that a Mile has 5280 feet, that is 18 minutes (20 minutes for women) per mile. IF you go half that pace, it is still 40 minutes per mile. A one hour or less walk is NOT bad if you can NOT walk a mile, maybe you should be in a long term care facility.

Now, we are NOT including in the group for this electric skateboard anyone with a disability, such people can (and do) use electric powered wheelchairs and other devices, WHICH are also permitted on most mass transit systems. Thus my comment, if you need this skateboard to get to the bus stop because it is to far to walk, maybe you should talk to your doctor.

Thus, this skateboard is aimed at "healthy people" who are more then able to walk to and from the bus stop. If you have to go further, I question if this skateboard has the battery power to do so AND keep it light enough to be manhandled onto a bus.

Given the movement to permit bike riders to take their bikes on mass transit (Mostly in the form of front bike rakes on buses, but also inside LRVs on non rush hour time periods), how is this skateboard superior to a bicycle? Is this another solution looking for a problem? I fear it is. Within a mile walking is NOT that long so just walking to the bus stop may be superior. On the other hand, for people one mile or more away, the battery needed for those longer commutes would make the skateboard to heavy to be taken on board the bus. The better solution may be to bike to the bus stop and just lock up the bike at the bike stop till you need it on the return. You can do the same with this electric Skateboard, but is is superior to a bicycle or even an electric bicycle? This is assuming you can NOT take the bike onto the bus, if you can, the bike can do, but the skateboard may be to heavy given the battery needed.

Sorry, sounds like a solution to a problem that does not exist OR where there are superior solutions (Much like the Segway, yes people bought them and people use them, but as a whole inferior to just walking short distances, or riding a bicycle or riding a four wheel scooter, each superior in its niche to the Segway, but people who use the Segway thinks highly of them).

Just like the Segway is more a gimmick that has had some popularity, it has NEVER reached the level people thought it would. The reason is simple, the niches it operates in, just plan walking, using a bicycle or a four wheel scooter tend to be the better option. The same with this electric Skateboard, people will buy it, swear by it and use it, but most people will reject it for the superior capabilities of just plan walking, biking or using a four wheel scooter. Nice gimmick, but not a real solution to any transportation problem.

[KamaAina]

3. Actually, the average walking speed is 3 miles per hour

so an average walker can cover a mile in 20 minutes.

But that's 40 minutes round trip -- often in rain, or up your way, snow. Yuck.

[happyslug]

4. And both rain and snow affect skateboards as while as people walking.

My point is that there are better solutions to the "Problem" of having to walk a mile to a bus stop. My sister, who use to take the bus, made a comment on what people wore at her office. People who walked or took the bus tended to wear heavier coats then people who drove. People who walked or took the bus tended to wear footwear to match having to walk or stand in such weather, people who drive did not. I have walked in the rain and snow, it is not bad IF YOU DRESS FOR IT. It is only "yucky", if you want to wear in such weather the same as you want to wear on a dry summer day. I have biked in snow and ice, not a problem. I have walked in some of the worse weather short of a Hurricane or Tornado, not a problem IF YOU DRESS FOR THE WEATHER. I have no problem walking through suhc slush when I am wearing the footwear such weather calls for.

Given the growing use of Gore-Tex type water proofing, it is even less of a problem then it was 20 years ago when the only effective wet weather footwear were rubber boots. Such rubber boots did NOT weigh that much, and wear effective at keeping your feet dry. With modern Gore=Tex type "Breathable" water proof boots, you are talking even lighter footwear.

Yes if you want to wear dress shoes or tennis shoes in such weather, such weather is "Yucky", but if you wear the proper footwear, not a problem.