Green Taxi service in Amsterdam - Hopper
Thinking about riding a bike in Amsterdam? A tip from the bruised and wise. Don't drink and pedal! And if you do, then watch out for the tram lines.
Amsterdam is more like a village than a city and while public transport is there, most people tend to cycle. Which is all very well if you are used to riding on the left hand side of the road and don't have a few beers tucked away inside you after a long cafe lunch! The friendly local friend who insisted we were good to go cycles off in the style of a true professional leaving me open mouthed in admiration and cycling madly to catch up. Just as I managed to catch up with her tail wind, she turned and said, " I forgot to tell you about the tram lines! Don't get your wheel in one of those or you're screwed."
Which is kind of like saying "Don't think Pink Elephants" I screamed at her rapidly disappearing backside. Then I effortlessly inserted the front wheel of my cycle into the tram line and executed a spectacular flip that only ever really happens in cartoons. I left the bike at the nearest pub and walked home that night swearing off cycling in Amsterdam for every and a day and spent the rest of my time in that fair city walking everywhere and wishing I could hire a scooter.
Now getting around the city is a green dream with the introduction of the Hopper Electric Scooter Taxi's. The taxis are all scooters instead of cars. You can flag them down on the street, phone them and pretty soon you will be able to use a mobile app (keep up with hopcab Amsterdam!) or book a ride through their website.
The electric scooters drive at a maximum speed of 25 km/h and can go 130 km on a fully charged electric battery. You can find Hopper's main garage between TomTom HQ and Amsterdam's central train station.
Image source: cleantechnica.com