I’ve talked here about how Madrid is encouraging people to walk, bike, scooter, etc. around the city center. As of November, 2018, most cars and trucks will be banned from the city center.
As 2019 begins, we now have the technology to help make this possible — even in the US! Enter: electric bikes and electric kick scooters.
Last month I went into Denver to try out a scooter. All I had to do was open my Lyft app, click the cute scooter icon, and scan the QR code of the scooter I wanted to ride. Viola!
One second I was a pedestrian; the next, I was zooming shakily into the new world of alternative transit. For a 2 mile ride, I pay less than $3.
Scooters are the ZipCar of the 2010’s, with the first scooter fleet launched in Santa Monica in September 2017. But scooters have an exponentially higher adoption rate than ZipCar or bike shares since anyone can just hop on without a monthly membership. In just 1 year, people in more than 100 cities have collectively taken more than 20 million rides. Many people who used to get in the car for a couple mile trip are hopping on scooters instead.
You might find this trend — known as the Micro-mobility Revolution — annoying, especially if you are a driver. Keep in mind that these ‘nuisances’ are actually making your commute better. A person on a scooter is one less car you have to wait behind in traffic, as most scooter time is through neighborhoods, not on busy streets. It’s one less person stealing your parking space. Scooter riders are not making the air smelly or loud like your car is, so you can ride with the windows open and enjoy the breeze.
Alternative transit is far from new. Cars were the alternative transit of the early 20th century. Before then, people walked, skated, biked, skied to work and school.
Benjamin David is keeping that tradition alive in Germany. He got tired of waiting in traffic on the short trip and devised a solution. For several months of the year, he swims to work. It’s faster than driving, he says, and more fun. After donning shorts or a wet suit, he throws his work suit, towel, and laptop in a waterproof bag and walks down to the Isar River. It’s a 1-mile swim, about 33 laps in a 50-yard swimming pool. The waterproof bag inflates, serving as a nice float when he wants a rest.
Benjamin isn’t the only one looking at faster and more fun ways to get to work. A few years ago, David Allanson in Falun, Sweden decided to move near a large lake so that he could skate to work in the winter.
The distance between his home and work is 3.5km, about 2 miles. With his long skate blades (more similar to cross-country skis than they are to traditional ice skates), he flies along the lake. It takes him half an hour, but that’s because he takes the scenic route, around 10km (6 miles).
His family can thus get by without a second car. This is a huge financial boon in a country where gas costs $6.32 USD / gallon as of January 2019.
Temperatures are sometimes around -25 Celsius (-13F), but like all Scandinavians, David knows that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
He cites skating to and from work as helping him feel better and have more focus at work. One of the few in his town who skates to work, he’d like to get more people out to enjoy the scenery and the health benefits.
I love this article! I never considered these many micro forms of transportation. More of us need to embrace these options: for our financial, physical, and environment’s health.