Technosanity #8: Growing popularity of high miles/gallon motorcycles

Parking cars, climbing on scooters
You may have noticed more scooters or motorcycles on the road this summer. They are small, usually very fuel efficient and cheaper to operate than a car. Many customers say they are giving scooters or motorbikes a try because of the great fuel mileage they get.

Electric scooters designed for commuters
The Vectrix is an electric maxi-scooter which recently came on the market. It has great cargo capacity, goes fast enough to travel on highway's, has enough range to handle typical commutes with ease, and zero emissions. The San Rafael dealership has sold 23 Vectrix scooters since they became available in May.

Rising Fuel Prices and Recession Fears Spur Nationwide Interest in Motorcycles and Scooters
A July 21, 2008 article in PowerSports Business reported that first half scooter sales increased by sixty five percent, validating a consumer trend towards more fuel efficient transportation. "The era of smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles is upon us," commented Anthony Havens, Sparta's CEO. "Until recently, motorcycles and scooters were considered the choice of enthusiasts, or people who were just interested in fun and recreation. But, with gas prices dramatically rising, we believe a growing number of consumers will be interested in buying or leasing motorcycles and scooters for extremely practical reasons. With most motorcycles averaging from 40 to 60 miles per gallon and many scooters averaging up to 70 or more miles per gallon, a lot of people are now interested in acquiring these vehicles for commuting to and from work and for local and mid-distance transportation."

70 Extra Parking Spaces for Growing Biker Population
In New Zealand they're having enough growth of motorcycle riders to require more parking.

US drivers log 12bn fewer miles in June
In the U.S. the roads are less crowded than ever, perhaps due to this 'Staycation' effect.

‘Auto rickshaw’ gives Waukesha man cheap, fun ride
3 wheels and 70 miles per gallon
In other countries (India, China, etc) three wheeled cycle-car's are pretty popular. In India the auto-rickshaw's are the ubiquitous taxi service available any time of day or night. They began life as scooters but with a bench seat in the back and a cover to help keep out rain. Some are importing these into the U.S.

Aptera Typ-1 pushes design and efficiency to new ground
The Aptera looks for all the world to be a wingless airplane. It is an electric three wheeled vehicle whose aerodynamic styling creates the airplane illusion. It gets a 200 mile range per charge, holds two people plus cargo. It is due to begin delivery to paying customers in late 2008 and they have well over 2000 people pledged to buy vehicles.

Number of motorcycle deaths increasing in Washington
Motorcycle safety is everyone’s responsibility
Motorcycle Safety Foundation -- http://www.msf-usa.org/ -- Get trained and licensed. -- Wear personal protective gear — Ride unimpaired by alcohol or other drugs. -- Ride within your own skill limits. -- Be a lifelong learner by taking refresher rider courses.

National Highway and Transportation Administration -- http://www.nhtsa.gov/ -- motorcycle fatalities 2,116 in 1997 to more than 4,800 in 2006 -- Motorcycle registration has jumped 63 percent between 1997 and 2005.

Motorcyclists Learn Safety First
Motorcycle Safety Foundation Calls for Commencement of Motorcycle Crash Causation Study
Death by Motorcycle: Rates Continue to Rise
Motorists push for motorcycle lanes
Can Rising Motorcycle Fatalities Be Blamed on a Lack of Helmet Laws?
Gas prices drive increase in motorcycle injuries
Motorcycle riding is inherently dangerous, the motorcyclist is less visible, and in case of collision there is no protection. What gives a motorcyclist safety is to avoid crashes, and you do this through practicing safe operation, through being aware of the traffic, planning ahead what actions to take, etc.
In case of collision wearing safety gear reduces the extent of injuries. Yet there have been a decrease in U.S. states requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. Crazy.

What I took from the motorcycle safety training is the value of awareness. They teach an awareness practice you can use while riding a motorcycle. It involves constant scanning the road ahead of you for potential dangers and preemptively planning responses in case of problem. A key thing is to look far enough ahead to account for your reaction time. That is, how far down the road will you travel in 4 seconds? It's because 4 seconds (or so) is the typical reaction time, and if an emergency comes up you'll have 4 seconds before your reaction kicks in. Can you do it? Only if you pay attention to where you're going and what you're doing (thank you Yoda).

But an interesting side learning for me from this has to do with improved safety in car driving. Namely... I know that I'm not the only one who does this, that essentially everybody is doing this: I get in my car and somehow I get to my destination and don't remember how I got there and my mind wandered the whole time. HOW SAFE CAN THAT BE?

That's not safe at all, is it? Hm? Be honest now. That's a totally dangerous thing, right? Somehow it works most of the time and perhaps we're being lulled by how often it works. But let's be real ... this is dangerous.

Perhaps everybody should be required to learn to ride a motorcycle and take the motorcycle safety training ...?

Anyway, back to motorcycles

Motorcycles are fuel efficient... they require less resources to build the motorcycles.. and they take less land.

That last is a little hard to see and I want to make sure it's understood. Ponder if you will the typical city. Wide highways, perhaps 8 lanes each way, lots of parking lots, a garage at each house, lots of city streets, etc. Shopping centers are required to size their parking lots based on the maximal shopping time (Christmas) meaning the lots are only half full most of the time. Same for the roads, if a highway becomes clogged during rush hour the citizens will bitch and moan to the highway administration until the highway people build more roads. But the rush hour is, uh, an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening meaning they're sizing the roads to handle the worst part of the day and the other 22 hours of the day the roads are not so clogged.

In short there's a lot of land tied up with storing cars while they're parked, and space for them to drive around.

Because motorcycles are smaller that means you can pack more motorcycles per unit of road and park more motorcycles per unit of parking lot. Motorcycles and bicycles represent a better land use deal than do cars. An even better land use arrangement is mass transit systems.

Technosanity #8: Growing popularity of high miles/gallon motorcycles

Links: 

http://audio.davidherron.com/technosanity/e000007.mp3