Litewheels - The Magazine for Alternative Transportation

Litewheels is a magazine aimed at a new kind of traveler, one who dashes around at a brisk pace, close to home or work. Many people who travel this way are scooter drivers. Scooters are by no means new, but the scooter market is growing at a tremendous rate. Litewheels magazine also addresses drivers of other unconventional means of transportation, which we'll call "light vehicles," including motorized bicycles, stand-up scooters and quadricycles. These truly are new types of vehicles.

Motorized bicycles are fun to ride. Whether you retrofit your bike with a new motor or purchase a factory-built electric bicycle, they are a kick to use to get around town. Bicycle purists, however, tend to look down at a bicycle rider that does not exclusively use human power. And many motorcycle purists ridicule scooter users, even though they employ one of the most practical, efficient and fun forms of transportation known to society. And that's two of the reasons that we've started Litewheels magazine. Traditional bicycle and motorcycle magazines don't seem very interested in these intriguing vehicles.

Stand-up scooters are even newer than motorized bicycles. They are not quite as quick as traditional sit-down scooters, but they are extremely agile and even more fun to ride. These scooters are becoming common on high school and college campuses across the country. Over two dozen companies currently manufacture stand-up scooters.

The high-tech world recently caught a glimpse of the future when inventor Dean Kamen unveiled the Segway human transporter, a battery-powered, gyroscope-stabilized scooter that could revolutionize local travel. The two-wheeled unit, which resembles a hand mower, has a maximum speed of 12 miles per hour, and gyroscopes, which sense riders' center of gravity and make it difficult for them to fall off. And the Segway runs on a few pennies-worth of electricity per day. I am anxious to watch consumers embrace the Segway when it becomes available to the public.

When you read the first paragraph above you probably stopped and asked yourself, "What the heck is a quadricycle?" The term "quadricycle" is used extensively in Europe to describe a "tiny car" or a four-wheeled scooter with a roof. They are street legal in the United States and Europe as long as they meet a few simple regulations. Laws cap their speed at 25 miles per hour and require a windshield and a seatbelt. Referred to in the American market as "Neighborhood Electric Vehicles," Chrysler and Ford both offer them.

Each of these vehicles, sitting or standing, two wheels or four, have something in common -- a superior driving experience. The driver remains outdoors, not enclosed in a capsule. Readers of Litewheels magazine like to dash about town, and they tend to share streets with other vehicles that don't move very fast. These pleasant surroundings, like neighborhoods and college campuses, as opposed to freeways, are more enjoyable routes for people to travel. This is not always possible when the destination is more than 10 miles away, but when these routes are a choice, they provide for a more enjoyable experience.

Light vehicles also offer the opportunity for social interaction. They are much easier to exit and enter than traditional vehicles, allowing us to talk to more people and make more stops along the way. Parking a light vehicle is easy. In a crowded city, the act of locating a full-size parking spot and then "commuting" to and from that parking spot is often burdensome.

There are four distinct advantages for driving light vehicles. They are good for the environment. Light vehicles are "green": they have super-low emissions and deliver extremely high mileage. Their efficient mileage and low prices contribute to a very low cost of ownership, making driving a light vehicle a wise alternative. The extremely high mileage also contributes to our nation's pursuit of energy independence. While we appreciate the efforts of our government to assure the flow of oil into our country, we can help reduce our dependence upon other countries by using little-to-no petroleum in our pursuit of moving ourselves from place to place. Driving light vehicles is a patriotic habit.

Finally, this whole trend is really hip and contemporary. These vehicles are really cool-looking and loads of fun to drive. Young or old, they provide a great alternative. The vast majority of our traveling takes place close to home, involving only ourselves or one other passenger and maybe a bag of groceries. The future of our personal transportation is light!

Matthew York Publisher/Editor, Litewheels