Vespa Places Full Page Open Letter to U.S. Mayors Ad in NY Times

Owning a scooter is a political statement. It is not politics in the way that Republicans or Democrats define them. You are neither hippie nor elitist because you drive a scooter. No, the new breed of scooterist is a true utilitarian. We drive these bikes because they get us from point A to point B fast & because they cost less money to fuel up than cars do. For urban dwellers like myself, scooters are THE most superior, efficient, quickest way to get around the city. No other transportation method can compete with in the urban traffic snarl. In most cases scooter cost less than the bus or the train. And the bus & train don’t drop you off at the front door… but your scooter does!

It is my mission in life to further the political agenda of scootering. All scooters are good (even non Vespas), because every scooter that is sold in America today raises the awareness of others about scootering. Every scooter sold empowers another American to be more independent, and take control over gas prices, tolls, & traffic.

But we are at the precipice of a critical time in scootering history in America. I do not believe there has been any other time in American history when so many scooters have been sold to the American public. The numbers of scooterist are growing in America. But in the urban centers of this country, we have not reached a point at which our voices are being heard. There are enough scooterist around to be unhappy with the lack of parking but not enough to be considered a valued constituent.

All of this will change over time. The next few years will be rough, but as the ranks grow (and they WILL grow), we will be noticed. Actions taken like the one today by Vespa will begin to raise our profile. Like any other movement whose message is right, we need to speak out.

I do not have any images of the ad that Vespa placed in the NY Times yet, but the text of the ad follows below:

February 21, 2006

Open letter to all U.S. mayors concerned with America’s oil consumption

To attain the ambitious goal of breaking America’s “addiction to oil,” the President has recently focused on the need to invest in alternative fuel technologies. However, there is also a behavioral approach that could greatly reduce this nation’s energy consumption, while helping to preserve our environment and reduce traffic congestion.

The use of motor scooters - a daily behavior of millions of people across Europe and Asia - is only marginally embraced in the United States. Everyday in this country, millions of individuals drive their cars in locations and situations where motor scooters would be perfectly appropriate and convenient. Instead, if they were to utilize one of the latest eco-friendly motor scooters available in the market today - those compliant with the most stringent European and American regulations on gas emissions - they would, on average, reduce their fuel consumption by 58%, their emissions of carbon monoxide by 90%, and their emissions of carbon dioxide by 80%.

With the launch of the first Vespa in 1946, our company started a movement that has substantively improved transportation in countries around the world. Consistent with the President’s energy utilization goals, we believe the time has come to expand the range of transportation solutions also in the United States.

We encourage you to broaden the dialogue about energy self-sufficiency to include both technological solutions and behavioral ones, fostering acceptance of alternative transportation, such as scootering. With your support - as well as that of other federal, state and local government leaders - scootering would bring immediate and substantial economic and environmental benefits to Americans and the communities in which they live.

We remain at your disposal should you wish to discuss this opportunity further.
Sincerely,
Paolo Timoni
President and CEO
Piaggio Group Americas

Comments

[Ed Cole]

Ok...I confess. I am a Vespa addict from the 1960's. My 1963 Vespa GS got me through college by providing tranportation daily to my job as a school bus driver while attending Willamette University, Salem, Oregon.

I am now the Chief of Environment and Planning at the Tennessee Department of Transportation and realize, daily, the importance of alternative modes of transportation. The letter to the mayors says it all: we have to explore alternatives if we are going to deal not only with congestion, but with the energy and environmental consequences that congestion brings to us each day.

Vespa has now arrived in Nashville, at Vespa of Nashville, and I am placing my order for a new red GTS to not only rekindle the freedom of the 1960's, but to help set an example of mobility that is not restricted to my car. Being born in 1943, I am part of the generation helping pave the way for the baby boomers. Me and my Vespa will provide evidence of a fun, dependable, safe and historic way to do this! May there be many others!

Ed Cole

[Emmalee]

Let me first mention my webpage listed there is hopefully going to be a blog, but right now is nothing because I don't know anything about web design and can't afford to hire someone.
Now, I just wanted to say I love that letter and will be enclosing it with the $40 ticket I received when I parked in a yellow zone because there was no parking. Can you believe that here in Portland (Oregon) I have to pay $1.25 an hour for a quarter of the size of a car's parking space? They also pay $1.25 an hour. I say it's scooterist/motorcyclist discrimination!

[Robert H. Bruce]

Scooting is a way of life, perhaps it's minimalism at its best, perhaps it's common sense.

I would like to point out that scooting can't be devoid of the practical and theoretical training of riding a motor bike. In America and in England you have to make a basic training to get the license. Here you get a permit to ride without license then if you survive take the test. It's mostly collecting taxes from the poorest that need to ride a bike to live.

Not in Costa Rica where I live and fatalities and accidents are on the rise due to over crowding of the roads, road rage and absent minded politicians that have let the importation of used vehicles from Asia to go uncontrolled; but to me the lacking of knowledge of motor biking is also to blame.

There is indeed a Vespa club and a Scooter club, but none have any political clout. They are used as gathering places to comment on possible jobs, do some riding, some sight seeing. Could you imagine that here the road tax to drive a motor bike is the same as for a car. Motor bikes pay proportionally higher tolls than cars. I think this could change and must.

In the mean time I would like to congratulate the creators of this blog and wish them safe and happy rides from Costa Rica.

[Kevin Priger]

Amen to your discourse about changing America's attitude about scootering. I own one of the first registered scooters in Gwinnett County, Georgia and have been doing my share of PR to get the word out about this awesome mode of transport. My TGB has been an awesome bike for me. Keep up the great blog.