Preferred mode of city commute: Cars, bikes, cabs or public transport?

With the rise of the maxi-scooter segment, I would prefer a scooter over a motorcycle.

BHPian GreasyCarb55 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The thing that sparked this question in my mind was a video uploaded by a Canadian motorcycle YouTube channel FortNine. It mainly discussed about 50cc scooters and how they can be an amazing tool for commuting in densely populated cities like Vancouver and compared 3 options. A Honda Ruckus, 2-Stroke Vespa Sprint 50 and an Aprilia SR50 Motard.

That got me thinking about the different ways we commute.

• Commuting by Car
• Commuting by Motorcycle
• Commuting by Scooter
• Using public transport (metro, city bus etc), Ola/Uber.

Personally, if you would've asked me this question a couple of years ago I would've preferred motorcycles as at that time most scooters had 7-9hp and the faster options (Vespa and Aprilia 150/160cc Scooters) did not appeal to me. But now with the rise of the maxi-scooter segment, I would prefer a scooter over a motorcycle.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

My cars for leisure, evenings, dinners, parties, outings etc. If I'm going someplace during the day for work and it has good parking, then too I drive.

Uber & Ola is what I usually use during working hours if there are going to be a lot of traffic and/or parking issues. I sit in the front seat with my laptop running.

Have a rule that if I'm going anyplace within 1-2 km from home, I walk it up.

Motorcycles are convenient, but too risky for Indian roads IMHO. Love them, but won't buy one.

Would love to try the new modes of public transport (e.g. Metro), but simply don't have the time to spare. The last time I used public transport was perhaps a decade or two ago when I had to travel from Churchgate to Malad in the evening. The train was way faster.

Here's what BHPian libranof1987 had to say on the matter:

Pune: Punekars have far too much pride to use public transport. Do unofficial reports say we're the two-wheeler capital of India?

Buses: until the Chinese lent us their EV buses, our buses spent more time being broken down or catching fire than actually ferrying people around. A bad marriage between the Bus Corporations of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad meant the children suffered.

Auto: they roam around town aimlessly all by themselves all day. Drivers spend more time on their phones watching videos than driving passengers. Bangalore and Chennai auto-wallahs don't hold a candle to the disdain Pune wallahs show when asked if they'll go to a destination.

Metro: two decades too late, primarily used to gloat to the world that we have the Metro.

Pune is WAY too intellectually forward to use human rickshaws, donkeys and other means of transport. And we're not rich enough to have car taxis as in Delhi and Mumbai.

That leaves us with our own transport or Uber/Ola. Until recently, Uber/Ola drivers were beaten up when found near popular destinations like the railway station, main bus stand and pick up/drop points of inter-city bus routes.

Here's what BHPian Jeroen had to say on the matter:

In India, it was always the car. We had a chauffeur, so no problems with parking.

Whenever I travelled we, or my company if it was a business trip, would get a car and driver.

Here in the Netherlands it really depends. We live in a rural area and all major towns are at least half an hour's drive away. We have one small provincial town and we would take our bicycles to get there.

I am a regular user of trains as well, but only when I and my bicycle need to go somewhere a bit further.

In certain places, I would always use public transport because it was just the most convenient and efficient way of moving about. E.g. Madrid, Stockholm, London.

I have used Uber and Ola types of services in some of the towns I travelled to. E.g. Moscow, Bucharest.

Technically, I am based out of Stockholm, but live in the Netherlands, so my commute is by plane. I would always use taxis to move between Atlanta airport and our offices. Because it is just very quick and not that much more expensive than the bus or metro.

So it really depends, on where I find myself, what purpose and what options are the most convenient.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.