People have many choices in how to move around Melbourne these days.
There is the humble, ubiquitous car. Cars can carry a lot of stuff and more than one person. They are also relatively convenient in that most people have one, can jump right in, and head off to almost anywhere.
Public transportation is pretty convenient too. While the options for destinations are more limited than with cars, the network in Melbourne is expanding. Riding public transportation is also a cheaper and greener option than driving cars.
And more and more people are bicycling, not only in Melbourne, but around the world. Some people like bicycling’s combination of mobility and exercise, others like that it is the greenest form of transportation outside of walking. Others like it just because riding a bike is fun.
There is a fourth option, a new transportation option, that we think combines the benefits of cars, public transportation, and bicycling, while minimising the drawbacks. Our pick for tops in transportation: an e-bike subscription from Lug & Carrie.
Take a look at how it stacks up with the other main means of mobility, and we think that you’ll agree.
Cars
The best things about cars – the convenience, the ability to carry a handful of people and a load of stuff – are heavily outweighed by the drawbacks.
Driving means parking. Whether you are commuting or just heading to the shops, this takes time and often costs money.
Driving in Melbourne means dealing with traffic. Traffic in Melbourne is bad and conditions are getting worse faster than in any other Australian capital city.
Driving is dirty too. According to the Climate Council, transportation is Australia’s second largest source of greenhouse gas pollution.
Riding an e-bike from Lug & Carrie, you can dispense with worries about parking – bicycle parking is often curbside, it’s always free, and allows for literal door-to-door trips. You can also give yourself a reprieve from traffic.
Gone too are arguments about not being able to take your bicycle to do the weekly shop or to stock up for that big weekend barbecue.
The Lug & Carrie fleet includes the Tern GSD and Tern HSD, both enormously useful electric cargo bicycles that can carry heavy loads.
And do we need to mention that buying and maintaining a car is thousands-of-dollars expensive? A Lug & Carrie subscription starts at $44 per week, and all maintenance is included.
Public Transportation
Public transportation is a perfectly respectable option for getting around town.
But it’s not perfect.
In Melbourne, the transport network is largely focused on getting people in and out of the city, and it is harder to travel east to west across town. Our Lug & Carrie e-bikes travel whichever direction you point them. They also drop you right at the door of your destination, something that public transportation cannot claim.
If you are a commuter, we don’t have to tell you that public transportation use has been growing faster than the city of Melbourne can dig tunnels. You know this because you’ve been jammed on a train or stood around at a tram stop watching a packed tram roll past.
With each Lug & Carrie subscription, we guarantee that when you’re riding your e-bike that you won’t get squashed, you won’t be jostled, and you won’t waste time waiting.
And speaking of time, cycling to work is typically faster than public transport for short trips of less than 10km.
Bicycling
You may be a cyclist or former cyclist yourself, and find it peculiar that we think a Lug & Carrie e-bike subscription is better than bicycling.
Maybe you could pull the old dusty two-wheeler out of the shed. An older bicycle means potential problems of reliability and function, however. Our Tern e-bikes are all 2019 models or newer, and they are fully maintained by the expert mechanics at Good Cycles.
And being e-bikes, they’re also (obviously) electric. E-bikes dial back the hard work and sweat related to riding, which gives you one less excuse for stuffing the whole bicycling thing altogether.
In short, riding e-bikes is a great experience: there’s a reason why e-bikes sales worldwide are growing faster than traditional bicycles and are projected to keep booming. A Lug & Carrie subscription is simply the best way to get you one, and it’s the best form of transportation around.