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If you’ve ever been fortunate to travel overseas, you’ll know that public transport seems to run like clockwork.

Whether it’s buses, trains or trams, when public transport is more than a few minutes late people start to get a little antsy and do the classic ‘glance at the wristwatch’ move to express their dissatisfaction.

Compare that to here in South Africa and the continent, where we are used to a fluctuating degree of efficiency that ranges from the effective (the MyCiti bus does OK) to the awful (here’s looking at you, Metrorail).

In light of this it seems that the continent is embracing the two-wheel revolution, with a new study below covered by Quartz:

The study, by global market consultancy TechSci Research, projects that the two-wheeler market in Africa will more than double, from $4 billion in 2015 to more than $9 billion in 2021.

The growth is partly due to the absence of reliable public transportation systems, increasing urbanization that is fueling congestion and traffic across cities…not to mention the availability of easy financing and maintenance solutions.

That growth is best indicated by a graph, which shows the steady rise and rise of the traffic-beating two-wheelers:

So how does South Africa’s two-wheel growth compare with the rest of the continent?

South Africa’s market, the top in the continent, will grow the slowest at around 2% annually…

Compared with Nigeria, Tanzania, and Kenya, the average selling price of a two-wheeler is highest in South Africa, the TechSci report shows too. This is because a substantial volume of two-wheelers sold in South Africa pertains to either premium motorcycle and high-end scooters.

At least we have pretty refined taste.

Here’s a little pro-tip, though. If you want the two-wheeler that’s top of the pops, you don’t need to fork out full price.

You can drop Seth a line at editor@2oceansvibe.com, make the subject line ‘Vespa in my face‘, and we’ll go about sorting you out with a deal that is guaranteed to beat the traffic.

Close your eyes and imagine zooming through the CBD on your Vespa, your four-wheeled friends jealous as they idle in the peak hour traffic.

You’re better than that – now ride like the wind.

[source:quartz]