Perth resident Gareth Lock is a big active transport advocate and an even bigger fan of the two electric unicycles he’s come to favour as a cost-effective and convenient way to get around.
WestCycle recently rode up to Lock’s Kingsley ‘hood to find out more about why modern e-unicycles are the wheel deal when it comes to effective modes of active travel.
“I have a smaller one which is good for shorter distances but this bigger one is very practical for going places and longer journeys,” he says of the device in front of us with a 60km range. “It has suspension. I don’t wait until the battery is flat but it probably takes a couple of hours to charge up.”
“I don’t ride it to work very much because it is a bit too far [Kingsley to Kewdale] but it’s excellent to use in conjunction with the train. It’s easy to get to the train station and get to your destination. I find it’s more practical than an e-scooter. It’s smaller, I can put it in the corner of a room and it doesn’t need any servicing.”
Milk run: “The unicycle makes it so easy…” but mind the gaps
Not that he has locked out other forms of active travel – he regularly rides analog bikes, still jumps on his e-scooter on occasion and has an electric car – but he finds his $3000 unicycle gets more use than ever, even if the riding infrastructure around him is not totally connected.
“It seems outrageously over the top to use a 5-seater car to go to the shops to get a litre of milk,” Lock says. “Even before I got an EV I would use the unicycle or bike to go to the shops, or walk. The unicycle makes it so easy that I end up using it most of the time. I walk out the door with it, start riding, and stop when I get to the door of the shops and go in. It couldn’t be any easier. I don’t have find a parking space, I don’t have to walk from wherever it is.”
But casting an eye over Perth’s prevailing car dependence and active transport spending, he recognises the journey required before it can rival active travel champions like Paris, Copenhagen or even Camberra.
“The riding infrastructure around here is like most parts of Perth, it’s good in places but it has gaps. It’s so ingrained in our culture that when you are going anywhere, you drive – it doesn’t even occur to most people to do anything else. We make it so easy – we prioritise driving over absolutely everything else.”
“There was a woman on my street who would drive 200 metres to pick up her children from school. That’s crazy.”
“But you just have to look around the world – if you build it [more bike paths] people will use it.”
