Monday, May 02, 2005
Scooters rise in NYC
There is a good scene in the movie "The Interpreter" that revolves around a scooter. A secret service agent is assigned to clandestinely shadow a woman. When he sees that she has a scooter he knows he is screwed because he can neither follow it on foot or in a car.
Jax
Scooters have long hummed around the edges of New York life as either a faddish enthusiasm or a means of transport best suited to the city's small army of couriers and food deliverers. But they have never gained traction here as a tool of mass transit the way they have in European and Asian cities. . .
Retailers and manufacturers say that the number of people buying scooters is increasing, and that a confluence of events, including high gas prices, rising public transportation costs and the re-entry of foreign scooter manufacturers into the American market, are causing more New Yorkers to consider two wheels.
Paolo Timoni, president and chief executive of Piaggio USA, which manufactures Vespas, said the company sold more than 1,000 Vespas in New York City last year, an increase of 128 percent from 2003. (Link)
Jax
Scooters have long hummed around the edges of New York life as either a faddish enthusiasm or a means of transport best suited to the city's small army of couriers and food deliverers. But they have never gained traction here as a tool of mass transit the way they have in European and Asian cities. . .
Retailers and manufacturers say that the number of people buying scooters is increasing, and that a confluence of events, including high gas prices, rising public transportation costs and the re-entry of foreign scooter manufacturers into the American market, are causing more New Yorkers to consider two wheels.
Paolo Timoni, president and chief executive of Piaggio USA, which manufactures Vespas, said the company sold more than 1,000 Vespas in New York City last year, an increase of 128 percent from 2003. (Link)
