A motor scooter is a small, lightweight motorized vehicle with two wheels, a flat platform for your feet, and handlebars for steering. Unlike a motorcycle, which you sit on like a bicycle with your legs straddling the engine, a scooter has a step-through frame where you rest your feet together on a floorboard while you ride.

Motor scooters typically have smaller engines than motorcycles, making them good for short trips around town. The Italian Vespa, introduced after World War II, became one of the most famous scooters in history and helped millions of people travel affordably through crowded European cities. Today, you'll see motor scooters zipping through city streets everywhere from Rome to Bangkok to San Francisco, because they're easy to park, use less gas than cars, and can squeeze through traffic.

The word scooter can also refer to other vehicles: a kid's push scooter (powered by kicking), an electric scooter (like those you rent with a phone app), or a mobility scooter (which helps people with disabilities get around). But when someone says motor scooter, they usually mean the kind with a small engine that you ride while sitting down, though some newer ones use electric motors instead of gas.