Live in SF? Buy a scooter.
If you live in San Francisco, you should buy a scooter. Period. Full stop. End of discussion. Since I’ve lived in the city, I’ve tried it all — owning a car, riding a bike, catching Muni buses and metros, taking Ubers, and walking. It was my scooter that changed the way I experienced the city though — at a fraction of the cost.
My 150cc Vespa has been the best purchase I’ve made in the Bay (pictured below). Skeptical? Many friends of mine have been, which is the inspiration for this post. I’ll highlight the benefits of owning a scooter, do all the nerdy / painful cost comparisons to prove its economic judiciousness, and review alternative transportation options. Get ready to embrace the 2-wheeled lifestyle.
The benefits
In no specific order, here are my top 5 reasons for getting a scooter:
- Scooters are door-to-door. When you need to park, you just slide between parked cars — there’s almost always space. If you’ve ever not gone out because it wasn’t worth the hassle of parking, this will change your life. Want tacos at Pancho Villa taqueria in the Mission? Park in front of the door. Additionally, SF metered spots are only 1/5 the rate of cars. Parking garages also charge significantly less for scooters. I pay less than 1/3 of what a car does per month for my parking space.
- Traffic schmaffic. In California it’s legal to lane split. While I almost never lane split while traffic is moving, I do at stoplights. Rather than sit through multiple lights where only a few cars trickle through, I thread my way to the front of the queue and then keep moving forward. I can get almost anywhere in San Francisco faster than a car. The feeling of skipping traffic doesn’t really get old either. Yes, you’ll feel smart and smug.
- Save that $$$. More on this to come, but quick primer: owning a scooter makes economic sense. Numerous people have asked for specific details on this one, so I’ve added two sections below with more detail (“The Economics” and “Comparing versus car ownership and Uber”). TL;DR Over time, scooters are cheaper than cars or Uber rides.
- Safer than expected. People associate motorcycles and scooters with a lack of safety. From a common sense standpoint it’s true: you’re more vulnerable without a car frame. Minor accidents can be significantly worse on two wheels. Riding a scooter comes with the responsibility to be aware. I pay greater attention on a scooter than I ever did in a car. Since scooters are built for city travel, they rarely crack 40 mph (FYI scooters can’t go on the interstate meaning the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge are off limits). Scoot, a Bay Area startup for scooter rentals, caps their scooter speed at 35 mph. The combination of traveling at slower speeds and paying attention makes riding a scooter surprisingly safer than expected.
- Scooters are sexy. Don’t believe me? Check out these pictures of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Roman Holiday, Jude Law in Alfie, or Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in Larry Crowne. Still not convinced? Imagine cruising around San Francisco on a lipstick red Vespa with James Brown playing over your Bluetooth speaker. This is my commuting life. It feels good.
The Economics
Buying a scooter is a commitment. While it’s cheaper than other options (as you’ll see below), getting started still requires money. To demystify the economics of this decision, I’ve included actual costs as I got into scootering to put the parsimonious minds out there at ease. There’s some graphs too because I’m nerdy like that.
Upfront costs
There were a number of one-time costs associated with buying my scooter. I bought a used 2007 Vespa LX150 at the San Francisco Scooter Center for $2,200.00. Registration ($110.00), document fees ($80.00, still not sure what a document fee is…), DMV electronic registration ($10.50), tire tax ($1.75 x 2 tires), and another unclear charge on the receipt related to tires ($2.00, ???) were all part of the package before leaving the store.
Since I didn’t have a motorcycle license, I had to get a class M1/M2 endorsement from the California DMV ($33.00 and pass a written + road test). Luckily, my scooter included a helmet, gloves, and goggles from the previous owner. And before hitting the pavement, I added some personal touches of my own: an iPhone holder ($8.89 on Amazon) and a Bluetooth speaker ($25.05 on Amazon) for easy access to Google Maps and Spotify.
In total, I spent $2,470.94 before getting on the road.
Monthly costs
I also broke down recurring costs on a per-month basis. The main costs are gas, insurance, parking, and potentially needing to rent a car or hail an Uber for weekend travel or other trips around town (need to go to the airport, heavy rain, need to move a particularly large item).
Gas
I travel 3.6 miles one-way to work each morning and make that trip 5 times a week (3.6 miles * 2 trips per day * 5 days per week = 36 miles). On average, I ride ~20 more miles outside of my work commute, totaling 56.0 miles per week. This translates to 240.0 miles traveled per month (56 miles per week / 7 days per week * 30 days per month). My scooter gets 55.0 miles per gallon and gas was conservatively $3.50 per gallon over the year. In total, I only spent $15.27 per month in gas (240 miles per month / 55 miles per gallon * $3.50 per gallon). This matches the “gut check” since I typically fill up ~3 times per month at ~$5.00 per gas station visit. I don’t miss the days of seeing the sale price rack up for my car…
Insurance, parking, car rentals, and Uber
Insurance through State Farms is $15.82 per month ($94.92 per 6-months of policy). I allow myself the luxury of parking at work in the garage beneath our building ($100.00 per month). Occasionally I pay for a metered spots ($5.00 per month conservatively). If I can’t borrow a friend’s car for a weekend trip to Point Reyes or Lake Tahoe, I rent a car for ~$100.00 a weekend every 4 months ($25.00 per month when spread out). I average an additional $30.00 per month in Uber rides when I need to move lots of groceries, there’s a heavy downpour, or I plan on having a drink or two (or three).
Vehicle costs
Annual registration costs $50.00. In terms of maintenance, I’ve only spent ~$60.00. This included an oil change and replacing my helmet case which was stolen. San Franciscans can be the worst. That adds $9.17 per month when spread out over the year.
Monthly costs
My monthly bill to own the scooter is $200.26 ($15.82 insurance + $15.27 gas + $105.00 parking + $25.00 rentals + $30.00 Uber + $9.17 registration and maintenance). A large percentage of that comes from parking at work (~50%). As I mentioned, that’s a nice luxury I afford myself since I take our Corgi puppy to the office in a dog backpack. Overall, $200 isn’t too bad in an expensive city like San Francisco!
Comparing versus car ownership and Uber
I did a similar analysis for owning a car and added a comparison for only riding with Uber (see images below for numbers). Estimated monthly costs for an $8,000 used car was $559.07 while the Uber-only option was $275.00. These estimates were certainly not perfect, but they should be close and/or directionally correct.
Assuming a sale of the Vespa and car after 3 years for $1,400 and $5,000 respectively, cumulative cash out looks something like this:
After 34 months and a sale of the Vespa, the scooter option is the best economically. Car ownership is clearly the most expensive.
Adjusted cost per month
I sadly will sell my scooter (her name is Isabella FYI) someday. Based on google searches, most Vespas tend to lose the majority of their value early in the lives. Since I bought my Vespa used, most of that depreciation had already happened. I bought it for $2,200 and assume I could resell it for $1,400 (64% of today’s value) in 3-years with ~5,000–6,000 additional miles. Over three years that equals $800 in depreciation costs, or $22.22 per month ($800 / 36 months).
Assuming that the scooter or car is an asset that could be sold at any time, we could also adjust cost via depreciation. In other words, you’re losing some depreciation value of the vehicle over time which you count as a cost but you include the vehicle’s intrinsic value as a cash equivalent at any point in time. In that case, our adjusted cumulative cash out looks like this:
After other initial one-time costs associated with purchasing a vehicle (registration, fees, etc.), the scooter pays itself back in only 3 months.
The alternatives
Owning a car in SF was a nightmare. Traffic jams, gas prices, searching for parking, high parking rates, militant parking cops, and the occasional overnight window smashing were all joys I was only too ready to leave behind. While it’s great to be able to drive to Lake Tahoe or Napa Valley whenever you want, those trips can be managed with Zipcars or rentals.
Uber is convenient, but its has its drawbacks. Ride-sharing apps aren’t cheap, especially when in high demand. I was recently quoted $75 to get to SFO airport in a UberPool during rush hour. Individual rides feel economical, but add up quickly. Check your lifetime spend sometime. It’s like getting punched in the gut (here’s an app to help with that). It is nice not to have to worry about parking, insurance, etc. though.
Public transportation, biking, and walking are also problematic. You’ll save money but lose time. Buses involve religiously checking pick-up schedules, planning routes, and experiencing a serious lack of cleanliness. Biking and walking can be great exercise, but when you live on top of hill and wear jeans to work, well… let’s say I arrived places sweatier than intended.
Any of these cases sound familiar? Don’t sweat it (literally). Salvation exists on two motorized wheels.
The Big Conclusion
Buy a scooter.