Scooters in the city

I was wandering around in Civic (the city centre) yesterday and spotted this brightly painted wall and line-up of motor scooters. Scooters (and bigger motorcycles as well) have become more popular as petrol and parking prices rise. Tocumwal Lane, off Petrie Plaza, allows motorcycle parking only (free), and leads into a carpark/service area in the centre of a block of buildings.

To ride any sort of motorcycle in Canberra, you need to complete a 10 hour pre-learner's course, and if you don't already have an ACT driver's licence you also need to complete a Road Ready Course and a Road Rules Knowledge test. Once all that is in order you can obtain a learner's permit (L plates), which you hold for at least three months (and up to two years) before you can have your riding skills assessed and (hopefully) obtain a provisional licence. The provisional licence (P plates) applies for one to three years before you qualify for a full motorcycle licence. So the owner of the red scooter is somewhere in the early stages of the process.

Both sides of Tocumwal Lane are covered in really colourful graffiti-style paintings. Not only do they brighten the place up, they tend to keep the 'real' graffiti levels down. I'll show the other wall tomorrow.