We moved to Geneva about a year ago, initially rented an apartment in Plainpalais. Every day. I would drve my 10-year son to the Ecolint Nations campus by car ... Then I quickly started noticing that, while I was mostly sitting in this morning rush hour traffick, there were all of these nifty scooters, passing me left and right, always pulling right up to the traffic lights, going wherever they needed right now. The nightly struggle to find a parking place for that car made me more curious ... it was obvious scooters could park just about anywhere and they did not seem to need a permit.
So ... I bought a 125 cc scooter and life got better. So did my fuel consumption and related carbon footprint ... going from maybe 8 kms to the liter to better than 30 ... Parking? Just point. Rain? We have the old Dutch rainsuit that neatly folds up into the 35 liter topcase, always at the ready. And if I have to take a plane somewhere, I take that scooter and park it, for free, dry & covered, just a few steps outside the departures terminal. Real handy. The car no longer suffers the wear and tear of cold-start-short-city-trips and when we feel like going into town we're not scared off by the endless rows of cars slowly nudging ahead - we simply whisk by. I could go on.
Coming from Holland I would actually prefer the bicycle, however I am not allowed by law to transport my son on the back (bit of a culture shock that was) ... Public transportation is pretty good, but it takes about 3 quarters of an hour to get to that school ... and then back again. These days we live in Bellevue and the 6 km ride to school takes about 10 minutes. Oh, and parking at my place of work used to cost me CHF 60 a month (not expensive I think, but now I park for free. After all you're Dutch or you're not.
However, it seems that I am the only parent dropping off his offspring at the Ecolint nations campus. Literally tons and tons of cars, only one scooter (parents handling more than one child of course don't have this option - that is, I haven't yet spotted scooters with a sidecar). So based on this non-representative sample, and based on the very small number of posts on 'scootering' in Gevena (most without any replies, to boot) I am deducing that expats just don't get around on scooters in Geneva. So, almost all of those scooters that you do see are not expats.
Now I already had a motorcycle driver's license when I arrived, but it turns out anyone can buy a 125 cc scooter (plenty fast) and get the proper license by just following a very short (4 or 8 hours, not totally sure) theory course without having to pass a practical driving test. Bit dangerous if you ask me, but there you have it. Besides, if all those locals can do it, so can you?
So ... the question is ... do you or your expat friends get around on a scooter in Geneva? Have you ever considered it? If not, why? (I wonder whether this post will get any replies 
)
