Commuting on an Electric Scooter in Boston

2 years ago, amidst the pandemic, I bought an electric scooter to get around Boston. At first, I only really used it to visit my friends’ houses and use their gym since many of the local gyms like Boston Sports Club had closed due to covid19 restrictions. I had also intended to use it to commute to work, but my work was still at home and the date to return to office was continuously getting pushed back.

Rental electric scooters never got the chance to take off in Boston because they exist in a “legal gray area” in Massachusetts. Some sources say it’s because scooters don’t have turn signals (but, of course, bikes don’t either). I also heard that the city of Boston doesn’t want scooters littered everywhere and only allow the Blue Bikes program because they have dedicated docking stations. Regardless of the status of the scooter ban, the law enforcement here does not seem to care, as I have been riding for two years with no complaints from the police.

In the past few months, I have watched the number of scooter commuters go up in Boston, seeing more and more out every week. I have gotten the chance to say “hi” and talk to a few and all of them have told me that they love their electric scooter and that it makes commuting easier for them. With this observable upward trend in scooter commuters, I predict there will still be many more to join throughout the year.

Why Did I Choose to Scooter to Work?

If you’re like me and you hate a long commute, you already live relatively close to your office/work place. When I first moved to the area and got a job in Boston, I lived in Cambridge and would comfortably scooter the 3 miles into the city. Now, I only live 1 mile away from my office and can scooter over in about 10 minutes.

To get to my desk, I fold my scooter up, and roll it on its front wheel, directing the scooter with the handlebars. Although my scooter isn’t very heavy, I find it easier to do this than just carry its 25 or so pounds. I have to go up a few escalators and an elevator and just roll it in front of me and step on, letting the escalators and elevator do all the work. When I get to my desk, I park it near the window where my team works. It would fit under my desk, but I like to have as much floor space as possible, so I will be keeping it near the window unless a co-worker speaks up about not liking it near the window (I think most of them don’t care anyways since it’s out of the way).

One of the main benefits of the scooter is its portability. I love being able to walk around with it into businesses as well as my workplace. If you can’t bring it with you, then it’s easy enough to lock with a bicycle lock. And if you don’t want to lock it up in a public area at the risk of it getting stolen, you can often fold it and carry it in your arms.

I find that going about in a scooter is best in compact urban areas, where a car would be burdensome. In cities like Boston, it can cost easily more than $12 per day to park in a structure. Parking on the street and paying a meeter is more affordable, but getting a spot isn’t guaranteed. I have an SUV and solely utilize street parking due to my car’s excessively high clearance with a storage pod on top, and there’s just some parts of the city I will not even attempt to park in (i.e. Newbury St., Fenway on a game day, busy parts of Seaport, in the West End with an event at TD Garden). Sometimes driving or scootering will take the same amount of time because even though the scooter can be slower when there isn’t traffic, it normally evens out with the time a driver has to search for a spot and park the car.

Commuting on a scooter is a cheap, eco-friendly way to commute. It takes relatively little electricity to charge and can often go more than 10 miles on one charge — depending on the conditions (i.e. uphill, downhill, wind, ice, snow). For me, charging my scooter is free since I charge it in my apartment building’s bike storage room. There’s an outlet right next to where I lock up my scooter. It’s definitely a big benefit not to have to pay for gas, especially with prices rising.

Another benefit is that you don’t have to exercise while commuting like cyclists. Some would consider this a negative, but I already exercise every day outside of my commute. If I had to bike a few miles, I could be winded or sweaty upon arriving to work.

My Scooter

I purchased the Gotrax XR Ultra from Amazon, an electric scooter that costs under $500. It has a range of up to 17 miles (with optimum conditions) and can go up to 15.5 miles per hour. I find that 15.5 mph is fast enough; I often pass bikes going uphill, but bikes often pass me going downhill. I might upgrade to a scooter with 20–25 mph, but going slower is also safer if one were to fall.

I’ve noticed that the range can vary significantly depending on how much uphill riding I do and how windy it is. Some days, the wind has been as strong as 25 miles per hour. I normally trust that I can get 8-10 miles out of it with poor riding conditions. I normally don’t ride more than 8 miles per trip — it’s often just 1 or 2 miles — so that’s plenty of distance for my use.

This scooter can fold in half and I’ve never had to pump the tires up in two years — the tire pressure hasn’t gone down noticeably at all. It’s needed no maintenance despite my constant riding, sometimes through snow and water puddles. The scooter is not waterproof, but I find that a little rain during a ride won’t hurt it; just don’t leave it outside in the rain or snow all night.

I absolutely love this scooter and it has help up very well over the course of the last two years. I see a lot of alternatives out there now, but I still see many riding the Gotrax brand, likely due to its affordability and broad range of options. There’s many scooters out there so definitely look for one that fits your needs!

Do you think you will start to commute on a scooter? Have you noticed more people on electric scooters this past year? Feel free to leave a comment!

And always, don’t forget to wear a helmet! Ride safe, folks.