RALEIGH - When Johnny Edwards opened his scooter store in Raleigh a year ago, gas prices were around $2.68 per gallon. At that time, he was selling 20 to 30 of the bikes a month.

"Right now we're selling 60 to 100 scooters per month," Edwards, owner of Scooterz Inc., said.

The craze is growing coast to coast, with sales up 66 percent nationwide, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.

"This has already happened all over the world, except for here in the United States," Edwards said. "We've had our big vehicles, and now people are kind of reverting back."

He said although scooters range in gas mileage from 80 to 100 miles per gallon, his biggest sellers are the bikes that get more than 100 miles per gallon.

As for the hottest ride in the store right now, it's the Mio. It gets 140 miles to the gallon. It costs $2,500, and there’s a waiting list of 25 people.

Marty Cameron started scooter shopping weeks ago.

"I called from Raleigh to Virginia and South, and no one has any," Cameron said.

He finally found one he liked in stock, and now, he plans to use it to scoot around town.

That makes him part of a rapidly growing customer base, according to Edwards.

"It's a fun way to get to work and not use any gas," Edwards said.