Senior James Vossoughi, an entrepreneur and marketing business major, was always late to class last year and got parking tickets that he, like most college students, could not afford. His solution - a Yamaha Vino 125 scooter, and hasn't had parking problems since.

"There's parking everywhere," he said. "There's special parking in the front of campus just for scooters and motorcycles, but you can also park between cars—it's pretty tight."

Scooters are a popular alternative way of transportation in the United States, including San Francisco. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the number of scooter sales per year in the United States zoomed 555 percent from 1997 to 2006.

"Scooters really became popular in San Francisco as an economical way to get around where younger people couldn't afford cars or motorcycles and so scooters have always been a clear choice," said Barry Gwin, owner of the San Francisco Scooter Centre.

Scooter history begins after WWII when Italian companies Vespa and Lambretta began producing two-wheeled transportation instead of tanks and planes, according to Gwin. "Scooters came to the US in the '50s, became popular in the '60s through the '80s and then there was a low, but now there's a new golden age of scootering,” said Gwin."

From the 1980's until now, other companies, such as large Asian companies, Honda and Yamaha have entered the market. Today new Vespas cost between $3,000 through $5000 while a brand new Yamaha can cost around $1500, says Marie Drennan, an S.F. State assistant professor in the broadcast and electric communications art department.

Drennan, who owns a 50cc Classic, has noticed a rise of scooter riders in the S. F. State community since she first purchased her scooter four years ago.

“I think that’s partly because the scooter market maybe is getting bigger,” she said, “You used to only see Vespas and now there are a lot of really new scooters that are more affordable coming out so I think it’s just partly a matter of what is available to consumers.

But Drennan admits the main reason why she got a scooter was also their artsy appeal.
“I totally chose the scooter for fashion,” she said, “I think they are adorable-- I like the sort of mod look,” she said.

Scooters were a huge symbol of the sophisticated Modernist (Mod) scene, which started in the late 1950s and peaked in the mid 1960's according to Christensen, a Guest Service Supervisor for Virgin America Airlines.

"I've been obsessed with scooters since I got into the whole mod scene when I was 16," said Christensen, who has a blood red 1967 Vespa 50 S. "I remember watching the movie Quadrophenia thinking it was the coolest thing ever and I wanted to ride scooters like the mod kids that dress really sharp."

While traveling for her job, she has noticed a growing popularity of scooters in other cities, including New York, Portland, and Denver. “Denver has a gigantic scooter scene. Everyone and their mom has a scooter.”

Joanne Owens, the secretary of the San Francisco Scooter Girls, says that scooter clubs communicate with each other online. "There's a lot of kind of scooter presence and scooter club presence on the internet so it's kind of surprising to find out about scooters being in random places" she said. "There are scooter clubs in like Minnesota and some of them like ride in the snow which I could never do."

Although James Vossoughi rides his scooter mainly to school, he finds that scooters can be used in a romantic way for dates. “It’s a great way to pick up chicks,” he said, “They put their arms around you—it’s a great way to get intimate quick.”