2008 Woodie Awards
Ciao bella: Fuel friendly scooters gain popularity
Gail Waterhouse
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: Campus Life
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Although bicycles and public transportation are less expensive than owning a car in the city, some people in the Boston area have been turning to an increasingly popular alternative: scooters.
Vespas, a well-known brand of scooter manufactured by the Italian company Piaggio, come in a variety of colors, like Portofino Green or Montebianco White. Each Vespa seems to have its own flash of European style.
The Massachusetts-based vehicle dealership Herb Chambers opened a Vespa dealership in Allston in 2001, and General Manager Diodoro Mayen said sales have increased rapidly in recent years, climbing 50 percent in the past two years.
Scooters have long been a popular way of getting around European cities and countrysides, and until recently, have been a rare sight in the United States, said Mayen. As interest in money saving modes of transportation increases, so has the popularity of the scooter.
"It wasn't really until two years ago that people began to notice us," he said.
The recent popularity of scooters has also prompted the creation of online scooter dealerships like euromopeds.com, a website created earlier this year by two local Bostonians, Max Versace and Heather Ames. Some fanatics have formed scooter groups like the group CityScoots, which has 64 members, and the Greater Boston Scooter Club, which has 77 members. Both groups meet regularly for scoots around the city.
Students on co-op or who have jobs outside Northeastern might find scooters to be a more efficient and cost-effective mode of transformation.
Andy Prior, a junior American Sign Language and psychology double major, said he bought his Vespa this past June.
"I was commuting back and forth ... from where I live in the South End to my work downtown," he said. "A bunch of people I work with have [scooters] and it worked out that with the money I was spending on the T, it would be cheaper to get a scooter."
Mayen said scooters are a great way to save money and can carry 2.3 gallons in one tank.
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