I appreciate that people are doing other things for fitness, but I'm looking at it from an environmental view point.
Environmental is just one aspect of it though. You're basically saying the two options should be walk/cycle or beyond that a motor vehicle (be it own or public transport). There is no acceptance that there needs to be a middle ground option too if you want to find a sustainable solution that will actually get people out of their cars. That solution needs to offer a relatively fast mode of transport that is quickly accessible.
Some people with restricted space can get fold up bikes, but if not, then why not decent rental cycles?
Yeah I'm not riding round on a fold up bike!
You mean the rental bikes which are....electric
The infrastructure isn't the same, as you don't need to lay cables for charging points or build charging stations for pushbikes.
The rental bikes are electric. Plus the scooters don't need charging stations (they don't currently) - there is a fella going round on a cycle-van thingy collecting them to move them/charge them.
The scooters are smaller, take up much less space on the pavements so you can provide many more in the same area to satisfy demand, and much more user friendly in terms of leaving them near where you need to go (the bikes HAVE to be plugged back in at special areas).
Also, is an escooter any better than say a Nissan Leaf or a Mine E?
Is removing a car off the road / from car parks / etc. better? Yeah, I'd say so.
They add to noise pollution, and they add to the traffic in the centre (which then see's more polluting cars sitting there spewing out their fumes). The number of cars in the city centre is horrendous.
There is this big focus on electricity as if it magically appears out of thin air, people seem to forget we need power stations to run this stuff. Most houses have tellys, sky boxes/virgin,phones, laptops, alexas all connected to the mains, we're going to need to address all this too and adding more things that need charging isn't better IMO. Isn't lithium mining quite shite too?
Yes, you're right it needs addressing. I'm not sure saying "well just walk" is the answer though because it just isn't always an option. Sure, people should walk more where possible, and you'll prob find most who live in the city centre walk a hell of a lot for most trips. If it is then lets start with telling all these rural living fucks to start walking their commute into work.