There’s been a huge jump in my quality of life in the past two days as I get my scooter back on the road. Wow, I missed that thing.

Natalie and I are fortunate, as I’ve said many times, to live in a 15-minute neighbourhood with great cycling and transit to the rest of the city. I’m basically lazy, though, and especially in winter sometimes dread walking even to Hintonburg Marché all of 750m down the street. If at all possible, I’ll make that a stop on my bike commute and I’ve even been known to bus there and back. If I’ve got my scooter available, that’ll be my first choice in any kind of fair weather. The machine I’ve got now – a dual-1000w-motor beast makes for an extremely fast ride and hassle-free shopping so long as I can fit my stuff in a backpack. I appreciate that there’s no effort in scooting; I put on a helmet, ride, and get to wear I’m going in a few minutes. It’s also easy to maneuver on the train and takes up far less room when the cars are a little crowded.

I’ll be interested to see how my mode share changes. I expect that it’ll eat a little out of the percentages for each of transit, walking and biking. I make an effort to ride my bike most days for the fitness, but I know I’ll switch for a lot of the work trips within my immediate neighbourhoods and probably for things like scoot->LRT to get to NU.

Mostly this post is just to say, though, that I can already feel the reduction in stress in my life. The scooter fills a gap in my travel modes perfectly, and I’ve got it back!