I have written time and again about how cities approach the question of where to allow scooters and motorcycles to park: cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Moscow, Hoi Chi Minh and Rome.
Perhaps it's a case of the old adage of seeing pregnant women everywhere when pregnant, but I keep seeing the same issues pop up in cities everywhere. It seems on every continent planners can't get their heads around scooters as important vehicles in the fight to ease urban transportation knots. And scooter riders universally grow frustrated with the lack of vision.
The latest stories are from Melbourne where this writer's sentiments echo those in Toronto....
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/57511/city-link-plan-to-toll-scooters-and-motorcycles-from-2014-are-we-nuts
....and from Philadelphia with an another all-too familiar story:
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dncrime/PPA-stepping-up-scooter-enforcement.html
Monday, 21 October 2013
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Scooters in The News
I've just have a couple of unseemingly related news items for you today. I will be writing more about Italy and scooters soon but didn't want to pass these up:
Item One: TMZ, a Hollywood gossip magazine has video of actress Gwenyth Paltrow riding her Vespa in LA. She and her husband were picking up two kids at school on their two Vespas. That sounds good so far, but Paltrow cut in front of a school bus to beat it into traffic, and the bus reportedly had to brake. Not cool. The magazine named Paltrow "the a-hole driver of the year."
http://www.tmz.com/2013/09/09/gwyneth-paltrow-vespa-scooter-almost-hit-bus/
The Globe and Mail in Toronto picked up the story, making it mainstream. Oh, Gwenyth.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/gwyneth-paltrow-did-what-on-a-scooter-with-her-child-on-board/article14200185/#dashboard/follows/
Item Two: HeroMoto Corp, the giant of two-wheeled vehicles in India (where it produces 6-million of them a year), the largest manufacturer of scooters and motorcycles in the world, has announced they will begin selling products in North America next year. The models will no doubt be quite different to meet tougher safety standards and certainly not as cheap as they are in India.
Still, if HeroMoto is betting that it's time to enter the market here, that's good news for scooter riders who will have more options. And it's good news for the future of scooters as a player in the vehicle system here. But back to Gwenyth. If automobile drivers, particularly in a car city like LA, are ever going to accept scooters as a legitimate part of the road scene, then riders better behave. There may be few rules for scooter riders in some countries in the world like Vietnam, but that's never going to fly here.
Item One: TMZ, a Hollywood gossip magazine has video of actress Gwenyth Paltrow riding her Vespa in LA. She and her husband were picking up two kids at school on their two Vespas. That sounds good so far, but Paltrow cut in front of a school bus to beat it into traffic, and the bus reportedly had to brake. Not cool. The magazine named Paltrow "the a-hole driver of the year."
http://www.tmz.com/2013/09/09/gwyneth-paltrow-vespa-scooter-almost-hit-bus/
The Globe and Mail in Toronto picked up the story, making it mainstream. Oh, Gwenyth.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/gwyneth-paltrow-did-what-on-a-scooter-with-her-child-on-board/article14200185/#dashboard/follows/
Item Two: HeroMoto Corp, the giant of two-wheeled vehicles in India (where it produces 6-million of them a year), the largest manufacturer of scooters and motorcycles in the world, has announced they will begin selling products in North America next year. The models will no doubt be quite different to meet tougher safety standards and certainly not as cheap as they are in India.
Still, if HeroMoto is betting that it's time to enter the market here, that's good news for scooter riders who will have more options. And it's good news for the future of scooters as a player in the vehicle system here. But back to Gwenyth. If automobile drivers, particularly in a car city like LA, are ever going to accept scooters as a legitimate part of the road scene, then riders better behave. There may be few rules for scooter riders in some countries in the world like Vietnam, but that's never going to fly here.
Monday, 14 October 2013
Parking Roman Style
While I was in Italy, admiring the ease with which Rome, in particular, accepts the presence of scooters, the city of Toronto was going through more hand wringing over what to do about parking for scooters and motorcycles. As I've written before, the owners of two-wheeled vehicles enjoyed free parking on the streets and the sidewalks for several years. Then last spring the city decided it didn't like scooters and motorcycles on sidewalks; the police started ticketing scooters that weren't on the streets. The change of heart has certainly curtailed that sense of freedom we riders enjoyed so there were letters of complaints to council members and planned protests. But now, the latest "solution" being offered seems even worse. It also show no appreciation for scooters as a partial solution to traffic chaos and air pollution. What's being proposed is designated spaces - not a lot - a few hundred spread around the city- with the introduction of pay-by- plate fees later on.
There's no respect for the scooter in Toronto.
In Rome - and throughout Italy - the scooter is not just seen as as a natural way of life but as a vehicle that deserves the utmost respect for keeping the streets moving.
There are designated spots in Rome too (and other cities) but there are lots of them and they are everywhere.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Free designated spots are the official way to park but no one seems to care when riders park in squares and in alleys even where there is no designation as long as they're not blocking driveways and entrances to building. That's respect.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
And scooters can often ride and park where cars aren't even allowed to go - in the limited traffic zones of some old cities for example....
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
...and on sea fronts. The picture below is from Santa Margherita di Ligure where it's almost impossible to find a place to park a car. But right on the harbour which no cars can enter, there are designated spots for scooters.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Of course, Italy has had more than sixty years to figure all this out. And the narrow streets, warm weather, and often short commutes in Italy work to the scooter's favour. But still, surely there are lessons to be learned from the streets of Rome and the smallest villages. Let those who ride scooters, leaving more room for cars in parking lots and roads, using less gas, spewing less pollution, have a few rewards. C'mon Toronto. Show the scooter some Italian respect.
There's no respect for the scooter in Toronto.
In Rome - and throughout Italy - the scooter is not just seen as as a natural way of life but as a vehicle that deserves the utmost respect for keeping the streets moving.
There are designated spots in Rome too (and other cities) but there are lots of them and they are everywhere.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Free designated spots are the official way to park but no one seems to care when riders park in squares and in alleys even where there is no designation as long as they're not blocking driveways and entrances to building. That's respect.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
And scooters can often ride and park where cars aren't even allowed to go - in the limited traffic zones of some old cities for example....
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
...and on sea fronts. The picture below is from Santa Margherita di Ligure where it's almost impossible to find a place to park a car. But right on the harbour which no cars can enter, there are designated spots for scooters.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Of course, Italy has had more than sixty years to figure all this out. And the narrow streets, warm weather, and often short commutes in Italy work to the scooter's favour. But still, surely there are lessons to be learned from the streets of Rome and the smallest villages. Let those who ride scooters, leaving more room for cars in parking lots and roads, using less gas, spewing less pollution, have a few rewards. C'mon Toronto. Show the scooter some Italian respect.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
True Passion
I like riding my scooter. I like trying scooters out in other countries. I like watching the ways scooters are used by people around the world. But do I love scooters? Am I passionate about scooters? Would I ever build a life around a scooter? No. No. No.
Recently, at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, Italy, I came across a story of scooters and true passion. We throw the word "passion" around a lot. But there is an intensity to the meaning of the word, an uncontrollable aspect that few of us sustain in our feelings towards inanimate objects.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
But the man at the centre of a new exhibit at the Piaggio Museum did experience true passion for a scooter. In fact, once he discovered them, scooters shaped his life. While staying in Indonesia, the story goes, Italian actor and journalist Giorgio Bettinelli was given an old Vespa that made him rethink his notions of journey and freedom. For much of the rest of his life Bettinelli travelled around the world on a scooter. He went through five Vespas on his odysseys; the museum has four of them.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
After riding in Indonesia, Bettinelli returned to Italy to plan his first trip. In 2002, he set out from Rome on a white Vespa PX and headed to Saigon travelling over 24,000 kilometres through ten countries including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
That distance should have been enough to prove he had passion to just about anyone. But it wasn't enough for him. He went on to do 36,000 kilometres from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego and in the mid-90s he rode from Australia to South Africa, a mere 52,000 kilometres.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Anyone who's ridden a scooter over uneven ground knows how bumpy the journey can be. But after all those kilometres Bettinelli still wasn't saddle sore enough to stop. In 1997 he embarked on a four-year worldwide adventure covering 144,000 kilometres and crossing the equator four times. During that trip he was kidnapped in the Congo, released and then robbed.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
But he wasn't done; he set out for one major country he hadn't crossed: China. That's where he settled down, married and died in 2008 at the age of 53. His last scooter remains there.
Bettinelli wrote about his journeys but his books are all in Italian. If your Italian's good enough you can listen to interviews with him on the web. It's a wonder no one has translated his books or made a movie about his life in English; a tale of passion is a tale of passion...even for people who aren't scooter fans. And he looks like an appealing character: tall, lean and tanned.
A video found on Youtube illustrates a bit of Bettinelli's route from Rome to Saigon. (It's interesting to note how few scooters buzzed on the streets of Vietnam in 2002 compared to now. Did he inflame any passions there?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oruCcJZv7Ps
Next time: Parking Italian style: lessons for Toronto
Recently, at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, Italy, I came across a story of scooters and true passion. We throw the word "passion" around a lot. But there is an intensity to the meaning of the word, an uncontrollable aspect that few of us sustain in our feelings towards inanimate objects.
But the man at the centre of a new exhibit at the Piaggio Museum did experience true passion for a scooter. In fact, once he discovered them, scooters shaped his life. While staying in Indonesia, the story goes, Italian actor and journalist Giorgio Bettinelli was given an old Vespa that made him rethink his notions of journey and freedom. For much of the rest of his life Bettinelli travelled around the world on a scooter. He went through five Vespas on his odysseys; the museum has four of them.
After riding in Indonesia, Bettinelli returned to Italy to plan his first trip. In 2002, he set out from Rome on a white Vespa PX and headed to Saigon travelling over 24,000 kilometres through ten countries including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar (Burma) and Vietnam.
That distance should have been enough to prove he had passion to just about anyone. But it wasn't enough for him. He went on to do 36,000 kilometres from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego and in the mid-90s he rode from Australia to South Africa, a mere 52,000 kilometres.
Anyone who's ridden a scooter over uneven ground knows how bumpy the journey can be. But after all those kilometres Bettinelli still wasn't saddle sore enough to stop. In 1997 he embarked on a four-year worldwide adventure covering 144,000 kilometres and crossing the equator four times. During that trip he was kidnapped in the Congo, released and then robbed.
But he wasn't done; he set out for one major country he hadn't crossed: China. That's where he settled down, married and died in 2008 at the age of 53. His last scooter remains there.
Bettinelli wrote about his journeys but his books are all in Italian. If your Italian's good enough you can listen to interviews with him on the web. It's a wonder no one has translated his books or made a movie about his life in English; a tale of passion is a tale of passion...even for people who aren't scooter fans. And he looks like an appealing character: tall, lean and tanned.
A video found on Youtube illustrates a bit of Bettinelli's route from Rome to Saigon. (It's interesting to note how few scooters buzzed on the streets of Vietnam in 2002 compared to now. Did he inflame any passions there?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oruCcJZv7Ps
Next time: Parking Italian style: lessons for Toronto
Saturday, 28 September 2013
Birthplace of the Scooter
I just returned from a few weeks in Italy, the birthplace of the scooter, and I have much to share about what Toronto and other cities can learn about scooter parking from cities like Rome, about the passion of one man who spent his life crossing continents on Vespas, about the latest Piaggio scooters. I'll be posting these stories and others over the next few weeks.
While I was in Italy I arranged to visit the Piaggio factory in Pontadera and was also given a guided tour of the museum. Great stories there as well, particularly how the introduction of the Vespa in the late '40s came at a time of new freedom for Italian women.
For now, here's a picture that shows that the love of the Vespa extends across the country. I took this through a window of a bar in Arezzo. The owner had filled the window with models of each new Vespa that had come out. And I love the sign! Perhaps we could install signs like that - for all two-wheeled vehicles - around the streets of Toronto.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
While I was in Italy I arranged to visit the Piaggio factory in Pontadera and was also given a guided tour of the museum. Great stories there as well, particularly how the introduction of the Vespa in the late '40s came at a time of new freedom for Italian women.
For now, here's a picture that shows that the love of the Vespa extends across the country. I took this through a window of a bar in Arezzo. The owner had filled the window with models of each new Vespa that had come out. And I love the sign! Perhaps we could install signs like that - for all two-wheeled vehicles - around the streets of Toronto.
Copyright: Debi Goodwin
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
It's a car, it's a scooter. No. It's an i-road
Just more evidence of the morphing going on with vehicles - two-wheeled, three-wheeled, uncovered, covered, gas, electricity. This is the i-road introduced by Toyota at the Geneva Motor Show this week.
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/toyota-i-road-concept-for-2013-geneva-auto-show-news
Check out the fun video on the i-road. I want one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScsDvRYyitc
Toyota image
Monday, 26 August 2013
Rainy Days
I may have mentioned this before so excuse me if I have: When I took my first motorcycle training the instructor said the best thing about riding a two-wheeled vehicle was the elements; the worst thing was the elements. This summer I thought of that statement a lot. While we've had some sunny weather this year in Canada the early part of the summer was one of the rainiest on record. Far from India, we joked about monsoons because the rain for a while seemed endless.
So yes, it is glorious to experience the sun and warm winds of a perfect summer day and no, it's not any fun feeling soggy during a long ride. Since we take our two-wheeled vehicles off the road for winter weather, rain is the one aspects of the elements we do have to work with. I have some gear: an old yellow rubber rain jacket and river pants but they are often inadequate after a half hour of driving rain. And when my glasses aren't steamed up, they are covered with blinding drops. I haven't found a visor to be much better.
In parts of the world where riders can enjoy their scooters and motorcycles year round they're better at solving the problem of rainy days. In Vietnam, within moments of the first drops, riders appear on the streets in thin plastic ponchos with hoods and then, within moments of the sun reappearing, they strip off the ponchos without even parking. Sometimes, when they don't have a poncho handy they get creative like this man who simply rode while holding an umbrella over his head.
Photo Copywright: Debi Goodwin
But others are buying more sophisticated gear. Recently, a friend of mine was visiting China and sent me this picture of a rain coat specifically designed for scooter riders. It covers both the rider and the bike, keeping hands dry to handle the dry controls. Clear plastic on the front allows the front of the scooter to be seen. This fellow has a passenger to give him extra protection, but the gear does come a hood.
Photo Courtesy of: Mary Kirton
It's raining here today and threatens to be a rainy week. I was going on out my scooter today but decided I didn't need to take it. I should buy better rain gear, perhaps adding some boot covers to keep my feet dry. Or I could order the Chinese gear online. But I like my elements pleasant so, for now, I'll just avoid rain when I can.
So yes, it is glorious to experience the sun and warm winds of a perfect summer day and no, it's not any fun feeling soggy during a long ride. Since we take our two-wheeled vehicles off the road for winter weather, rain is the one aspects of the elements we do have to work with. I have some gear: an old yellow rubber rain jacket and river pants but they are often inadequate after a half hour of driving rain. And when my glasses aren't steamed up, they are covered with blinding drops. I haven't found a visor to be much better.
In parts of the world where riders can enjoy their scooters and motorcycles year round they're better at solving the problem of rainy days. In Vietnam, within moments of the first drops, riders appear on the streets in thin plastic ponchos with hoods and then, within moments of the sun reappearing, they strip off the ponchos without even parking. Sometimes, when they don't have a poncho handy they get creative like this man who simply rode while holding an umbrella over his head.
Photo Copywright: Debi Goodwin
But others are buying more sophisticated gear. Recently, a friend of mine was visiting China and sent me this picture of a rain coat specifically designed for scooter riders. It covers both the rider and the bike, keeping hands dry to handle the dry controls. Clear plastic on the front allows the front of the scooter to be seen. This fellow has a passenger to give him extra protection, but the gear does come a hood.
Photo Courtesy of: Mary Kirton
It's raining here today and threatens to be a rainy week. I was going on out my scooter today but decided I didn't need to take it. I should buy better rain gear, perhaps adding some boot covers to keep my feet dry. Or I could order the Chinese gear online. But I like my elements pleasant so, for now, I'll just avoid rain when I can.
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