One Morning, One Scooter, and a Whole New Commute

I used to think of my daily trip to work as a slow crawl, a reluctant shuffle from bed to bus stop, then a sticky half‑hour sandwiched between honking cars. Last Tuesday, though, everything flipped. I was late (again), my usual ride‑hailing app kept “searching,” and a cloudless Lahore sky was doing that early‑summer bake. Then I spotted a slim blue e‑scooter leaning against a lamp‑post, waiting like it had my name on it.

A friend had raved about electric scooter sharing, but I’d never bothered. Five minutes later I’d downloaded the app, scanned the bar code, and discovered that gliding feels nothing like crawling. The little motor hummed, more like a cat’s purr than an engine, and the breeze felt ridiculously good for eight in the morning. I wasn’t part of traffic anymore; I was dancing around it.

Why borrow instead of buy?

Owning stuff is overrated, especially in the city. Parking spots? Rare. Petrol prices? Rising faster than my patience. When you rent an electric scooter you skip every headache that comes with ownership: no tune‑ups, no tire checks, no gasoline. Tap, ride, park, forget. Tomorrow a fresh one will be charged and waiting. I’d worried the price might sting, but the app charged me less than my usual takeaway coffee. Cheaper than a rickshaw, quicker than a bus, and, this surprised me, way more fun than either.

The learning curve (spoiler: there isn’t one)

People assume you need special skills. You don’t. If you’ve balanced a bicycle, you can manage an e‑scooter. Throttle on the right thumb, brake on the left handle, easy. The service politely asked me to stay off footpaths and keep to the side of the road. Fair enough. Ten minutes in, I felt like I’d been riding for years. My biggest challenge? Remembering I no longer had an excuse to be late.

A tiny battery, a big difference

Karachi’s air doesn’t exactly smell like pine trees; every small cut in exhaust matters. Since these scooters sip electrons instead of petrol, they add no smoke and almost no noise. It feels weirdly quiet when you stop, like the city forgot to shout at you.

And because each ride begins and ends through the same e scooter rental service app, the company knows when a battery’s low and swaps scooters out long before they strand anyone. I checked mine: 82 % when I started, 79 % when I parked. Plenty.

Side effects I didn’t expect

• I started skipping the gym’s cardio machines; the ride itself feels like a gentle workout (hello, calves).

• Strangers asked questions at traffic lights. One driver even rolled down his window to ask, “Kitni speed hai?” I told him thirty‑ish kilometers per hour and he whistled.

• My playlist suddenly mattered again, earbuds out, mind you, but a phone speaker in a backpack pocket makes the journey feel like a mini‑movie.

Will I ditch buses forever?

Probably not. Rainy days will come. So will family trips and grocery hauls too large for a back‑pack. But for most weekday errands, bank, bakery, office, this tiny electric companion is perfect. I’ve ridden six times since Tuesday; the pattern is setting itself.

Final take

If the morning gridlock still owns you, borrow back a slice of freedom. Try electric scooter sharing once. Let the city spin under your wheels instead of around your bumper. My bet? After the first swoosh past a line of stalled cars, you’ll grin so wide the helmet strap will creak.