Science of The City: Motor scooter mania

By PAUL RUFFINS

This article is part of a “Science of the City” series on micromobility.

As global warming becomes a greater threat, there’s been a concerted push to decarbonize our transportation system by embracing electric cars and micromobility. The Federal Highway Administration broadly defines micromobility as “any small, low-speed, human or electric-powered transportation device, including bicycles, scooters, electric-assist bicycles, electric scooters (e-scooters), and other small, lightweight, wheeled conveyances.” Automotive engineers characterize micromobility as partially or fully motorized devices that go less than 30 mph.

According to the North American Bikeshare Association, between 2021 and 2022, the number of e-bikes increased by 71%, and the number of e-scooters grew by 28%. Worldwide, e-scooter sales are projected to grow at a rate of over 8% a year through 2032. Judging from that success, it seems like the future of micro transportation is high-tech, electric and shared. But buzzing along Route 1 and clustered outside Hyattsville’s restaurants is another fast-growing form of micromobility that completely bucks this trend: individually owned, gasoline-powered motor scooters propelled by an engine design old enough to collect Social Security.

Gus Manzur, owner of Scooter Solutions and Cycles on Rhode Island Avenue in North Brentwood, said he’s seen the scooter market in the Washington area grow exponentially since requirements to register those scooters were put into place in D.C. and Maryland in 2012. “Now, there are more than 70,000 scooters in the DMV, and the number is growing fast,” Manzur said.

“Gas-powered scooters have become more popular because they’re easier to ride than motorcycles,” said Sean Rashid, the owner of College Scooters on Roanoke Place in College Park, which claims to be the biggest scooter store in Maryland. “You straddle a motorcycle, but you sit on a scooter, so it’s easier to balance and maneuver. And, all scooters also have automatic transmissions, while almost every motorcycle has a manual transmission with a clutch, which fewer people know how to use.” Rashid added that scooters are significantly cheaper to buy and maintain than motorcycles, as well.

Both Manzur and Rashid agree that a big factor in dropping scooter prices is the expiration of Honda’s patents on its GY6 air-cooled four-stroke motorcycle engine, first introduced around 1958. The GY6 was a tremendous improvement on the two-stroke engines that burn the lubricating oil which must be mixed into their gasoline. Four-stroke engines are often quieter and more reliable, and — more importantly — produce far fewer emissions. By freely adopting Honda’s proven design, Chinese manufacturers pushed motor scooter prices down to the cost of high-quality bicycles.

Manzur’s least expensive Chinese motor scooters begin at about $1,600. However, this past Memorial Day weekend, Walmart.com was listing a street-legal X-Pro brand 150cc gas-powered moped scooter with 10-inch aluminum wheels, disc brakes and electric start for only $680.95 plus taxes and $399.00 shipping. The Walmart website showed no gas motor scooters available for pickup in stores.

Rashid explains that the huge increase in motor scooters is also being driven by the reasons why people are buying them. Five years ago, college students were his main customers. Now, he estimates that only 25% of his customers are students. Another 25% are recreational riders or commuters. The other 50% are delivery drivers. Manzur estimates that 90% of his customers are delivery drivers. 

Why have local delivery drivers shifted to motor scooters rather than cars or electric bikes? William Lee, the service manager for College Scooters, points to the gig economy. He believes that a few years ago, the people who delivered pizzas or Chinese food usually worked for one specific restaurant, so they only had to travel out and back from the same location fast enough that customers didn’t complain. But during the pandemic, almost every restaurant had to deliver, raising the demand for drivers. More importantly, many restaurants began using services like Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats, where drivers are independent contractors who choose their rides, and often compete for the best-paying deliveries. 

“These drivers prefer motor scooters because they can cut through traffic and are easier to park,” Lee insists. “But, it’s only working because everyone is ignoring the massive scam with all those illegal tags people buy that say ‘49cc No license required.’” 

Many people believe that in D.C. and Maryland, if you have a vehicle with an engine smaller than 50cc or one that doesn’t go faster than 30 mph, you don’t need to register it or have a license to drive it. But that’s been completely false since 2012. 

Local laws are a little ambiguous about electric bicycles. However, in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, every gas-powered scooter driven on the street must be registered and insured, and the operator must wear a helmet and have a standard driver’s license or a motor scooter/moped operator permit. Motor scooters with engines bigger than 150cc require a motorcycle license. However, many of the motor scooters displaying 49cc plates, such as the blue Fly Wing Tank II delivery bike pictured here, actually have engines that are 150cc or larger and can reach 60 or 70 mph.

Legitimate scooter dealers are also suffering. According to Manzur, “Guys from New York are ordering shipping containers full of scooters from China, then bringing them here and selling them cheap because they don’t pay taxes or for the business licenses that I need to stay open.” 

Manzur mentioned another fraudulent practice recently reported on in The Washington Post. “Some of the immigrants the governor of Texas bused to D.C. have gone into the motor scooter delivery business because they can’t get work anywhere else,” he said. “Sometimes one person with a license and insurance joins a service like Grubhub or Uber Eats, and then gets a lot of other people to do the pickups and deliveries.”

Where are the police? Hyattsville City Councilmember Danny Schaible (Ward 2) said that several of his constituents have mentioned that they think these motor scooters without standard plates are illegal and wonder why police don’t pull them over. “Well, one answer is that scooters are very hard to catch,” Schaible said, “and our department has a policy of not engaging in car chases unless the driver has committed a very serious crime.” 

The Washington Post noted that another reason the police don’t seem to be too upset is that, so far, the huge increase in motor scooter deliveries hasn’t led to an uptick in accidents. That may be why D.C. and local police departments are focusing on risky behavior such as running lights, rather than just sweeping up thousands of unlicensed motor scooters like the NYPD, which has long tolerated the slower e-bikes for deliveries. To Manzur, this is all very good news.  

“The drivers need to eat, and if the police start cracking down, I’m afraid that it will force them to start committing crimes a lot worse than not registering their rides,” he said. 

But, perhaps a better solution would be to speed up the paperwork process so immigrants under temporary protective status can get proper licenses and registrations.

Paul Ruffins is a citizen scientist and a professor of curiosity.