Will gas prices force people to get scooters?

By Michelle Carolla
WBTW Reporter
Published: May 19, 2008

As prices continue to climb, some people are turning to alternative transportation. Both locals and tourists are giving up their cars for bicycles and scooters.

With gas prices jumping a few cents each day, we may start to see more bicycles and scooters around town. Obviously, bikes eliminate your car gas bill and scooters chop it almost to nothing. We caught up with some tourists that say they’re not spending their vacation money on gas.

Erik Matthews and his friends are in town for the week from Knoxville, TN. They drove to Myrtle Beach in a large SUV, but said there are better places to spend their money than a gas station. “It gets 15 miles. I’m pretty sure this thing’s got it beat on gas mileage. This will save us some money while we’re here for the week, have a good time, take it back, pretty economical,” said Matthews.

Matthews can expect to save quite a bit of money.  It takes about two dollars to fill a moped’s tank and it gets 80 miles per gallon.  One of Matthews friends, Steward Grugin, also of Knoxville, is stuck driving the SUV. “Somebody has to drive them here.”

Scooters and Cycles on Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach said sales are up by nearly 50 percent. Manager Beth Garris said businesses are now trying to save money with scooters. “I’ve had a lot of businesses to switch over,” said Garris. They’re using mopeds and scooters as their main source of transportation to run their businesses. A lot of delivery companies, that’s saving them a lot of money.”

Traditional bicycle rentals are also up in Myrtle Beach. Beach bike shop said their rentals are up by 43 percent over this time last year.

Sales aren’t as high, but tourists are capturing the bike market to keep their vacation as economical as possible.

Several other scooter stores in the area reported higher rental rates so far this year. Also, some motorcycle shops said they’re seeing higher sales from last year.