From Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary,'' in GoLocal24.com.

The brief appearance on Providence streets of those Bird electric scooters, before they were ordered off pending adjustments of  local regulations, raised the issue of what to do with the proliferation of little vehicles on city streets.  The still far too few bike paths in some cities aren’t wide enough to accommodate the increasing number of  human-powered bikes, electric scooters, skateboarders, runners, wheelchairs (some motorized), three-wheelers walkers with dogs and so on.

This is becoming more of a pressing matter now that such ride-sharing companies as Uber and Lyft have said that they, too, are going to go big into the scooter- and bike-sharing business. That’s good news if it mean less business for Uber and Lyft cars, which are sometimes dangerously clogging city streets.