are there kick-scooters that could be credibly used on public transportation?

I think that for a scooter to be a convenient way to travel between the nodes of public transportation it should be capable of disassembly down to something that can fit into a legit-looking carry-on luggage and also the recharging aspect should be sufficiently simple and quick, e.g. by carrying an extra battery to swap for an exhausted one or using chemical fuel. So is there something like that on the market nowadays? Have people who use buses and trains ever been noticed in using scooters in any significant numbers?

Incidentally, yes, I am aware of schemes like ubiquitous freely available bicycles for everybody in the wonderful world of Denmark, but nevertheless am more interested in the less-utopian approaches that could be done by individuals.

I don’t understand your question. Do you mean a foldable bicylce? Yes, those have been around a long time, but are much more expensive than normal bikes.

Or do you mean a scooter, like a Mofa/Moped, with a little engine? A Vespa? Why would you use it between two public transports? If you have a Vespa, you ride it all the way (there was a rise in Vespas for young business people several years back in London when the city made taking a car into the inner city difficult and expensive.)

For people who live on the outskirts of the city, there are Park +Ride places: they drive their car, bike, Scooter to the train and park there, and take the train into the city. In the city, they can switch from train to bus as needed, because it’s all walking distance.

For people who live closer, they may take bus and train and public transport, or ride the bike/ Vespa all the way instead (many people take a bike in the summer and the train in the winter).

What would be the benefit of carrying a Vespa between train stations?

Big difference between “kick-scooter” and “folding bicycle”. I think OP means similar to a skate board looking thing with 2 small wheels and a folding handlebar. I don’t think you’d want to ride one on a 20 mile commute, but it could work if it was compact and light enough to take on the bus/train with you. Drawback: I believe in most places you can’t ride them on the sidewalk, and they wouldn’t be much fun in traffic.

There’s really no way to use one and not look like an idiot.

Oh you mean the modern version of the kids Rollers, as we call them? This, not this?

Of course the modern versions for adults are foldable and come with a strap to carry over the shoulder. They’ve enjoyed a trend over 10 years back! And they even introduced small versions with electric motors, but those were very expensive. When they were in fashion, you could buy one for 40 Euros.

When the summer starts and the leftover pebbles from the winter have been swept up, adults will be outside with those, too, but it’s not the primary mode between two train stations over here.

For one, once you start using this, you’ll notice that to go fast you must really exert yourself, which is good for your health, but makes you all sweaty, which is bad for people in business clothes.

Also, you’re supposed to wear protective pads and helmet, because, esp. going at fair speed, a loose pebble can still trip you badly enough for a crash, yet nobody does because it makes you look like a dork.

For outside, most people take bus or tram between train stations, or walk if the weather is nice.

Where I see them more often is inside, in the halls of the fair exhibition centre, or factory halls, where they need less space than bikes and are quicker and smoother to get from one to the other than walking. On inside floor with less debris they also run smoother.

you’re talking US, then. Because our courts ruled that they have to use the sidewalk, as they are either toys or bike-related. (I think Inliners were ruled to belong in traffic, but it’s been awhile. For a long time, when Inliners started becoming popular, the lower courts ruled differently, one classifying them as toys and onto the sidewalk, the other judging by speed and putting them onto the bike path, until finally the High Court decided what they were.

The englishwiki Article mentions folding variants.

While the Danish (and scandinavian countries in general) are closer to a paradise with their “socialist” social system, the free bike lending is a gag only for a few select towns - either college towns, or tourist places.

What is widespread is commercial bike hire. In my city, it’s called “call a bike” and run by the Deutsche Bahn (yes, the train company) - they bought it from the startup company several years back*, and now it’s available in several german cities with one customer number.

The bikes are spread over the city. When you want to use one, you call the number, say your customer number and a robot tells you the unlock code. You enter that code into the electronic lock, and can use the bike, while the clock is running. When you are done, you lock it again, call and give the locking code, and the clock stops. Once a month the added fees are withdrawn from your bank account.

  • The startup experimented long with his idea, to make the bikes cheap to build, easy to service, comfy for many different people, and yet difficult to steal/ take apart (Munich has a high rate of bike theft.) For a few years, his business was a success, but then his major bank cancelled his credit without proper reason or forewarning, and no other bank extended, either, so the Deutsche Bahn got a working, established business at far below price. There are rumours that the Deutsche Bahn leaned on the banks to not give him credit in order to achieve this, because building up the service themselves would have cost them much more, and banks have a history of following their major customers against their small customers.

But the OP also mentions

So maybe the OP could clear up first what kind of scooter exactly we are talking about, before we speculate further? A scooter that’s propelled by your own feet is different from a motorized kick-scooter, is different from a scooter with an engine.

Maybe if the OP is coming back at all, he could also clarify that

I understand that biking is impossible in most US cities because they (can’t afford to build/ don’t want because they don’t care/ don’t know how to build/ …) don’t have bike paths.
Similar, one major problem/ difference between the typical US city and European city is suburbs/ connecitivty: in the typical European city, distances are short and public transport exists; in the typical US city, distances are long to the suburbs, and public transport doesn’t exist, or only in limited use (reasons have been discussed at lenght in other threads).
So I fail to see how one indivdual with the “right” type of scooter can change the 20 miles distance between suburb and city centre, or the terrible train schedule, or all the other problems that make public transport so difficult in the US.

Longboard skateboards, while bulky, are a great means of travelling longer distances in cities.

Do you need much time/ skill to ride a longboard? When the foldable kick-scooters for adults went into fashion (Wikipedia says it was 2000-2001), the handlebar made things easy for adults, and different models even had three or four wheels for better stability.

I still have one in my basement, but unless I know I’m covering a lot of distances, I don’t bother, because carrying several kilos of metal around for just a little scotting is not worth the effort to me.
Being on a fair or similar is an advantage though.

longboarding takes some practice. They’re somewhat unstable and a beginner should be very wary of hills.