Econduce 17+

The Future of Urban Transportation

I am a digital nomad from Canada. After landing a remote job over the summer, I realized that I had no reason to stay in Toronto and spend half my paycheck on rent, so I decided to move to CDMX a month ago, with no money to speak of and only a debit card (so renting a car was out of the question)

I discovered Econduce my first week here and ever since it has been my primary method of transportation in and around this giant, traffic congested city. Signup was dead easy. Open app, enter phone number, take selfie with license. Unlike some other services which require a Mexican license to use their vehicles, Econduce welcomes foreigners - as long as you have a valid license (either car or motorcycle) from somewhere in the world, you’re good to go

The payment system is very friendly and does not take any sort of deposit or hold - by default you are on a free membership plan and you only pay for the minutes you’re using the motorcycle. If you sign up for the monthly plan (mxn 499 = 20 bucks us, you get 5 hours free driving each month, half price minutes, and best of all, low daily maximums. From 9am-9pm the maximum charge is $10 USD… and from 9pm-9am it’s $5 USD.

Which works out to $15 / day - with no maximum number of days. However, given that the bikes are electric, you’ll want to drop yours off when the battery gets low and pick up a fully charged vehicle.

My only complaint is that I live 1km outside the service area, so I have to walk 15 mins to pick up or drop off the motorcycles, at the train station 1km from my apt. But I’m weird and I live in Tepito (because I want to live in Tepito) - the service area is remarkably large and covers pretty much anywhere that is considered “safe” by normal traveller: Roma, Polanco, condesa, zona Rosa, and points south, down to the Coyoacán border

Finally, the bikes: Holy s*** they’re good. Sadly they’re capped at 55 because of insurance issues, but that is more than enough to keep up with traffic in the city. Just like a Tesla, the acceleration is out of this world, especially on the big Duplos

Hint: always rent Duplo if available… if you’re only one person, all the better - when the light turns green and you give the throttle a liberal twist, you shoot across the intersection before the cars who were beside you have even entered the intersection. The other thing about Duplo: the mileage estimates are for 2 people. For a party of 1, expect 50-60km worth of real world battery life. I took one out to the pyramids in the Sierra Guadelupe, got lost a bunch of times, and drove it like a local, you know, those quick aggressive maneuvers that would be illegal back home (in CDMX, it is perfectly acceptable for motorcycles to run a red light if you stop first and nobody’s coming… or to bypass a traffic jam you can’t lane split your way thru by way of the sidewalk… as long as you give pedestrians the right of way. If in doubt, follow an Uber eats guy for an hour and do whatever he does - that’s how I learned these things, nobody taught me)

The only problem: I am now addicted to motorcycling and I yearn to take one of these bikes on the open road, high up into the mountains. Which ain’t gonna happen with an electric designed for getting around the city

The solution: I get paid next week, and half a paycheck will get me a 150cc gas motorcycle off of Facebook marketplace. Which I will use to go for epic rides in the mountains and maybe over them, down to Acapulco. But for getting around town, Econduce will always be my first choice - for one thing, when I reach my destination I can just get rid of the bike, and grab another when I’m done. My own bike, I would have to worry about theft, damage by cars, hassles by cops for not having the paperwork, etc.

Plus, why destroy the planet if you don’t have to?