Automotive

I am reporting today on the latest addition to our stable of "Mobility Devices", using the politically-correct term for things that get us from A to B faster than walking. I already have 8 cars and 4 bicycles, but then mobility devices are like pairs of socks (or watches) - you can't have too many.

It started at AutoMobility 2016, aka the LA Car Show. I was doing my annual report on advances in the auto industry, by attending the conferences and show. In the Technology Pavilion I encountered a booth where the URB-E was on display. I'd seen this folding electric scooter earlier in the summer, and this time had a chance to inspect it closely. 

You will want to know the whole story, including Made In America, concept by former-Porsche-design guy, do-it-best rather than do-it-cheap, extruded aluminum, etc., so you can visit their website here. But not yet, please.

As it turned out, although I am skilled at evasion of "the close" with car dealers and watch reps, I was unable to resist the salesmanship of Evan Saunders, the energetic head of Sales & Marketing for the URB-E Electric Scooter. My every evasive maneuver was countered with a "YES, we can do that". 

(Several days later he had a much larger display with multitudes of scooters in appealing colors)

And so, even though on Tuesday Evan had only two demo models at the show, and the "wait for delivery" is about two weeks duration, just 2 hours later I found myself on MY own URB-E. It had been assembled and delivered from the factory in Pasadena, so I could cruise around the Auto Show.

I was facing a long journey that afternoon, and with the URB-E I could save a UBER ride and avoid burdening my wife and her family. (Frankly, I'm a car guy, not a bus rider, not a transit system veteran, and not all that fond of Lyft or Uber.)

I checked a new beta App, called GoLA, produced as an experiment by Xerox together with Lyft and the LA Metro. This is the first transit help app I've tried that actually figures out the morass of trolley, train, bus, car share, private car, bike, walk etc. With real-time predictions, prices, routes - almost everything you need (except how to pay the bus driver). I chose the 54 minute option with turned out to cost $0.95 (as I am now eligible for senior citizen fares )

If you know LA, you know this route can take 40 minutes or two hours!

I got on the number 910 bus and said "What do I do?" He said "Put a dollar in the slot and sit with the wheel chair folks here in the front." 

So I did, and had a nice chat with a couple folks about the scooter and how it might make their daily commutes easier. One cycle commuter took the URB-E business card from me and asked if they could arrange financing.  I told him Evan had promised me that they could help with a payment plan.

About 30 minutes later, after we'd slipped through the afternoon traffic on the HOV lane, I was dropped at the Pacific Coast Highway transit stop.

The bike guy and I got off, prepared our "mobility devices" and started off in different directions. My first few blocks were easy, then the sidewalk disappeared and I had to cross 4 lanes of highway, which I did in an unsafe, bicyclist-like swoop across the road. Next time I'd go to the crosswalk. But the rest of the 5-mile route (shown in red above) was uneventful.

It was a relatively easy trip but not one that I could do with a camera in hand. I stayed on the sidewalk most of the way, with the occasional pedestrian to avoid, and taking care at the intersections. I would NOT recommend this PCH trip out on the roadway with cars, but it was fine on the sidewalk. Each corner now has a cut to street level for wheelchair users, which I found very helpful. I couldn't resist stopping half-way home to inspect old cars and talk to the owner of the shop who was repairing them.

Another two miles of traffic, a mile on a quiet road, and I reached the homestead. As soon as I arrived, my wife and her sister rushed out and took the URB-E away, while I sat and calmed down.

Here's a photo from their website showing the scooter in folded and riding positions.

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