Scooters coming to Puerto Vallarta?
The municipality of Zapopan, a suburb of Guadalajara, has recently approved the introduction of electric scooter rentals, a pilot project that will start on December 2, 2019, when 250 scooters will appear for rent on the streets of Zapopan. You know something like this will soon be available in Puerto Vallarta, if it’s successful in Zapopan. GDL is also looking at joining the program. Electric scooter and bike rentals are very popular north of the border and it will be a very welcome enterprise in Puerto Vallarta.
There are four companies involved in Zapopan; Bird, Frog, Grin and Movo. The charge to unlock a scooter will be $10 – 15 pesos (50-75₵ USD), with $2-3 pesos (10-15₵ USD) per minute to ride. Scooter rental will require a phone app, and normal traffic regulations will be expected to be followed. Scooters will be limited to bike lanes or the right lane of traffic. They will not be allowed on sidewalks, and must park in specified parking zones or vehicle spaces.
Sharing is the way of the future for Puerto Vallarta. It’s working well in other parts of the world and we aren’t far behind. There are great reasons to use scooters for transportation and we have seen them growing in popularity in Puerto Vallarta over the past decade. Scooters are not like bikes in many ways. Their wheels are smaller, which makes for hopping off in an emergency stop, a lot easier. You also don’t travel as fast on a scooter, compared to a bicycle.
Parking. Parking. Parking. It can be one of the most frustrating experiences in Puerto Vallarta, but for short-distance trips, when you aren’t obliged to carry anything other than maybe a backpack, you can park in the smallest of spaces. Scooters simply don’t take up much room and though you can’t park them on a sidewalk, there are lots of little nooks and crannies in Puerto Vallarta.
Fuel efficiency is certainly a primary reason. If you know anything about fossil fuels, you’ll understand immediately how efficient at scooter will be in Puerto Vallarta. Consider how much you and a bag might weigh (probably a combined measure of about 200 pounds/90 kilos) and you’re normally traveling in a 3,000 pound/1360 kilo steel machine that fills our environment with carbon dioxide in shocking volumes. Your scooter will weigh approximately 20 pounds/9 kilos and run on electricity.
We’re looking forward to the eventuality of rental scooters in Puerto Vallarta and it can’t happen soon enough, as far as we’re concerned. Be the change you want to see in the world.
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