[Reedx]

The biggest complaint about these scooters seems to be that they are left in the middle of sidewalks/etc.

This is my biggest complaint about shopping carts too. That they are left all over the parking lot in parking spaces, propped on curbs and so on. You don't even have to walk back to the store! Cart racks are never far away. It's a huge pet peeve.

But I've never blamed shopping carts or thought we shouldn't have them because of it. I blame lazy/inconsiderate people. How do we solve this problem?

[JoelSanchez]

Here in Spain shopping carts require a coin (normally 1 or 2 euro) to be taken. As a result, almost everyone leaves them at the cart racks (because they don't want to lose the coin). Having "scooter racks" that worked in a similar way could probably help, but then you'd need to walk to a nearby rack to get a scooter, increasing the probabilities of having to walk longer distances to get one.

[scrumbledober]

When I parked my lime scooter the other day (before they were all removed from SF) it asked me to take a picture of the scooter to help others find it. I think a similar coin return situation (ie a small credit for their next ride or discount off of current ride) could be implemented with this picture taking. Show them where you parked and then if they can see that you parked it inappropriately they can start tracking bad actors and do something to intervene. This would most likely take the form of banning certain people by phone number or drivers license.

[Broken_Hippo]

Norway also has the coin system at most places. So does Aldi grocery stores in the states - and their carts almost always get returned. It works.

And it sometimes brings out the good in folks as well. I've often given someone smaller change for their freshly-emptied cart and had folks simply pay for my cart when I was searching for change. (This was especially so in the US as I don't use the metal carts nearly as often here).

[andygates]

UK carts commonly have a wheel lock that engages when the cart rolls out of bounds. That stops the casual seepage of hardware. Won't work for scooters, alas.

Some also have small cash deposit (routinely spoofed with a similar-size token, but that doesn't matter, the tokens cost about the same as the coin). Maybe adding one of these and a reward prompt ("Did you park nice? Well done!")?

[rokhayakebe]

How do we solve this problem?

When I see people leave a cart in the wrong place I pick it up and put it where it belongs. Hopefully they'll be watching me. Sometimes you can only do what you can do in that moment.

[letsgetphysITal]

Why not ask them to do it? No need to be confrontational. "Hey, could you put that in the rack just down the street? It gets in the way of disabled people, families with strollers, the elderly... Thanks."

[lostlogin]

In the U.K. (where I don’t live) the supermarkets used to have you put 1 or 2 pounds in them, which you got back when you took it back.

You would be amazed what people will do for a small amount of money.