Cutting Journey Time & Congestion

If there is one thing I didn’t miss AT ALL during the summer holidays, it was that manic morning commute to the office. It’s only day 2 of the September school term and already there is a noticeable difference in the amount of traffic on my early morning journey to work.

Now all the school run parents are back in their cars and everyone is back from their holidays, the journey that was taking me a leisurely 15 minutes is now taking around 35, with most of it sat in queues of stationary traffic waiting at traffic lights or stuck at an island waiting for my turn. It’s BORING.

Benefits of a Scooter for commuting

I’ve recently been looking into ways to cut both my commute to work and reduce my emissions, and my cousin suggested looking into a buying a scooter. After initially laughing thinking she meant a push along scooter like the girls have, I realised she actually meant an engine powered motorcycle and soon realised why she was keen. She lives in London, and found that since she bought a retro style scooter (which by the way looks amazing with a vintage cream leather), she has been able to cut not only her journey to work hugely, but also avoid any of the congestion charges that would be imposed if she was travelling by car.

Travelling by scooter has also proved to be cheaper than public transport such as tube or bus, meaning she saves money on her travel whilst also providing a method of travel that causes fewer emissions and is better for the environment.

How much does a Scooter cost?

After chatting with her more about scooters and the benefits of owning a scooter, I learnt that depending on the speed at which you want to travel (and therefore whether a 50cc or 125cc scooter is required) most scooters can be picked up for around the £1000 mark, but then have the benefit of costing less than 10p per mile to run, and consume between 55 and 81% less fuel than a comparable journey by car.

Other than the scooter itself, there is some other basic investment required which includes scooter insurance, a high quality scooter helmet and a disc or chain lock to secure your scooter when parked up at a public or home location.

You can only drive with L plates (and not on the motorway) until you have your full UK motorcycle license.

Whilst I am not quite convinced yet that it is the right option for me, ask me again in a few weeks time once I am stuck in traffic that I could easily weave through on a scooter, and I may start to change my mind!

Do you have a scooter? How is your commute to work?