LEAN Networks

LEAN sounds like a good idea (Although any alternative to using on-highway vehicles for all mobility is probably a good thing). The car is our hammer, and when all you have is hammer, everything starts looking like a nail. So what we really need is a toolbox of mobility solutions. The sustainability purist in me wants to exclaim that all we need is walking and biking. But biking runs into the exact same limitations--a lack of network. A cyclist must either use the pedestrian (sidewalk) or automobile (road) network, neither of which is really suitable (sidewalks are terrifying on a bike at >15 mph--far too rutted, too many jags and jumps). But to circle back, I think it's certainly worth further exploring micro-mobility alternatives in vehicular transportation. If nothing else, the e-scooters have been transformational in a way that neither bike-sharing nor e-bikes have been. (I got my Mom to ride one). In the vehicular niche, four-wheelers seem to fulfill a niche in rural areas--I've seen well-beaten paths alongside highways, occupied by four-wheelers. In a suburban environment, the golf cart seems to fulfill the same niche. In both cases, driven by both the young (14?) and the elderly. In both cases, the availability of network/ROW seems to be the clincher. Yet few places are going to develop whole new networks to provide for these new vehicular modes, unless the modes are already present (for other purposes) in critical mass. (People already have ATV's on a farm, golf-carts are the norm on golf-course communities). Four wheels seems to be key--stability while in use and when being boarded. 

I'm pretty skeptical on vehicles as first-last mile connection to transit stations. Vehicular access to transit stations has a fundamental issue: Park and ride. Stations require a place to stash vehicles, regardless of type (consider the zoo that is bike parking in Amsterdam). 'Docked' systems (similar to e-bikes) require both a sending and receiving dock. Vehicles check out at the station for last-mile journeys cannot return to the station on their own (imaginary autonomous solutions disregarded), so the number of such journeys that can be made is finite, and limited by the number of docking stations. Dockless systems like e-scooters rely on 'chargers' --people who round up the scattered vehicles, charge them at home, and drop them off at sites designated by the apps. I saw guys with a pick-up and trailer doing it. Seems unlikely such would be feasible for larger vehicles.