WIDE REWIND
BY 01/16
THE JAANO APP IN HAMBURG. Sustainable mobility sharing — bicycle and automobile rentals — is a flourishing market. In Germany, for example, growing numbers of young people and companies are offering scooter-sharing services, based on smartphone apps. But not with any old two-wheeler: one of the most popular vehicles is the Vespa, because as the Jaano company of Hamburg explains, the Vespa is more than a scooter, it's a cult, a symbol of the Italian life style. They’re right, of course. What could be more chic than riding round town on one of Jaano's smart white Vespa Primavera 50 4-stroke 4-valve scooters with their red saddle?
It's very easy: all you need is a driving licence, you book the Vespa through the Jaano app, and you find the helmet inside the top box (and you can ask for a second helmet if you’re riding with a passenger).
The only restriction on use of the scooters is... the cold: after the winter break, Jaano is resuming service in February 2016. The photo below shows the large Jaano fleet ready to get back on the roads!
INFO:
www.jaano.de
SCOO.ME IN MUNICH, COLOGNE AND FRANKFURT. These three German cities also have a scooter-sharing service, run by “scoo.me”: for everyone who's tired of sitting in traffic queues and wasting time looking for a parking space. The user just downloads the scoo.me app on their smartphone, registers for free, selects the nearest scooter and starts the engine in keyless mode, takes the helmet from the top box and sets off. They leave the scooter where they want (free-floating mode). Quick, easy and fun. What's in their vehicle fleet? Mainly Vespa scooters! The service is particularly popular with young people.
The scoo.me team produced a great video in December, for the release of the latest film in the Star Wars saga; the clip was shot in the city streets aboard the scooters, with the actors dressed as Darth Vader, imperial soldiers and armed, of course, with laser swords.
SCOO.ME’S VIDEO 
INFO:
www.scoo.me
Photo from Time Out (Worldwide guide to art and entertainment, food and drink, film, travel and more): www.timeout.com
Dustin Rodriguez is a businessman from the Lower East Side: taking his inspiration from the scooter tax service of the Dominican Republic and those operating in Europe, Dustin decided to bring the idea to New York. He has developed the “Motoconcho” app (a combination of the Spanish words: motorcycle and public cab). The service has met with a mixed reaction. Clients appreciate the “scooter cab” because it’s fast, cheap (half the price of a taxi ride) and fun. Others raise regulatory and safety concerns: the Taxi and Limousine Commission says scooters cannot be used as taxis, and so TLC licences only apply to automobiles and not to scooters. The service has been covered by the Daily News and on Telemundo, which aired a report of more than 6 minutes, fronted by the journalist who tried the service and interviewed Dustin, as they rode a Piaggio Typhoon through the traffic of the Big Apple. The media say that, pending new regulatory developments, Dustin continues to offer his taxi service, taking clients to their destinations on Vespa and other scooters, and obviously providing a crash helmet (complete with throwaway internal lining): “I was a bit nervous for the first five minutes, but then it was fun!” Time Out suggests that its readers try the service… “if you really want to have a ‘Roman Holiday’ style experience (from the famous film with Audrey Hepburn, ed.) along Fifth Avenue… just remember to hold on tight to the rider!”
Dustin Rodriguez on one of the Vespa scooters in his fleet
