If you ride a scooter or a moped in the US, you already know the drill. You type in a destination, the phone thinks for a second, and then it cheerfully points you at a freeway on-ramp your bike is not allowed to touch. What you actually want is a moped route planner that avoids highways, keeps a slow machine off interstates and freeways, and tells you how long the ride really takes at scooter speed. That is exactly what Urban Rider does, and this page walks through why the big map apps get it so wrong and how to set mine up in about a minute.
Scooters and mopeds are not allowed on the interstate
Start with the law, because it is the whole reason a scooter GPS that avoids interstates matters. In the US, mopeds, small scooters and other low-speed vehicles are generally prohibited from limited-access highways, interstates and many freeways. States including Virginia, Louisiana and Connecticut spell it out and ban mopeds from interstate highways outright, and plenty of other states reach the same result through their traffic code.
Three rules stack up against a slow bike here:
- Minimum-speed postings. Interstates carry minimum speeds, most commonly 40 mph and in places 45, 50 or even 55 mph. Florida, for example, posts a 50 mph minimum in some 70 mph zones. A 50cc moped capped near 30 mph simply cannot meet that floor.
- Slow-speed laws. Separately, nearly every state makes it an offense to drive so slowly that you impede the normal flow of traffic. That catches a moped on a freeway even where no sign specifically bans it.
- Vehicle class and engine size. Many states define a moped as roughly 50cc or under with a top speed around 30 mph. Go faster than that or fit a bigger engine and your machine is often reclassified as a motorcycle, with its own registration, insurance and license rules.
It all varies by state, by engine size and by license class, so treat this as the general picture and check your own state before you ride. But the headline holds almost everywhere: a scooter that tops out at 30 to 45 mph has no business on an interstate, and a bigger 150cc-and-up maxi-scooter or motorcycle, which can hold highway speed, is a different animal that generally may use one. For the full breakdown of where powered two-wheelers can and cannot go, see can you ride a moped on the motorway.
Why Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze send you down the freeway
Here is the uncomfortable part. The three apps almost everyone reaches for do not have a scooter or moped profile at all, so they cannot plan a route around the rules above.
- Apple Maps gives you driving, walking, transit and cycling. There is nothing in between for a low-speed powered two-wheeler, so a scooter gets routed exactly like a car, freeways and all.
- Google Maps does have a two-wheeler mode, but only in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and even there it is tuned for motorcycle speed rather than the surface streets a 50cc is limited to. In the US it is not an option, so your scooter is routed as a car.
- Waze is built for cars and for motorcycles that filter through traffic. It will happily route a two-wheeler straight into a highway jam because it assumes you can squeeze between lanes, which is the last thing a moped rider wants.
Two things break the moment a car router meets a slow bike. First, it sends you onto roads you are not legally allowed to use, because nothing in its model knows your scooter is capped at 30 mph. Second, it estimates the trip at car speed. A ride the app claims takes ten minutes at 55 mph takes far longer on a moped held to 30, so you leave late and arrive frazzled. A real route planner that avoids highways has to solve both, not just one.
How to plan a no-highway scooter route in Urban Rider
Urban Rider starts from your machine instead of from a car, so avoiding freeways is not a workaround, it is the default. Here is the exact setup:
- Pick the moped or scooter profile. Open the vehicle settings and choose the profile that matches your bike rather than a generic car. This is what tells the router you are a low-speed two-wheeler in the first place.
- Turn on avoid highways, freeways and trunk roads. Switch on the option to exclude highway, freeway and trunk or A-road type roads. From then on, every route is built out of surface streets your class is actually allowed to ride, and interstates and limited-access freeways are kept off the map.
- Set your top speed. Enter your real top speed, for example 30 mph for a 50cc moped or 45 mph for a quicker scooter. Urban Rider times the whole trip at that speed, so the ETA is honest instead of a car fantasy you can never hit.
That is the entire recipe for scooter navigation with no freeways. Once it is set, you just enter a destination and ride, glancing at the next turn on a handlebar mount. Because the app is scooter-first, you are never fighting it to stay off a road you cannot use.
An honest word on what Urban Rider is
Let me be straight about the trade-offs. Urban Rider is newer and smaller than Google or Apple, and it does not carry a decade of crowd-sourced traffic data. What it does have is a sharp focus that those apps do not: it is genuinely built for moped navigation that avoids highways, freeways and interstates, with realistic scooter-speed ETAs baked in. It is free, there is no account and no paywalled routing, and it is a real native app on both iOS and Android rather than a stripped-down web page. Your route history stays on your own device, not on a server.
If you want to see how it stacks up against the alternatives, my rider-tested rundown of the best scooter and moped navigation apps compares it head to head with Google Maps, Waze, Calimoto and the rest. And if you simply want the free tool without the deep dive, the free scooter and moped route planner page covers the basics.
Navigation built for your scooter, not a car
Urban Rider routes your moped or scooter onto roads it is actually allowed to ride, avoids highways by default, and gives arrival times at real scooter speed. Free, no account needed.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a moped route planner that avoids highways and interstates?
Yes. Urban Rider is a moped and scooter route planner that avoids highways, freeways and interstates. You pick the moped or scooter profile, turn on the option to avoid highway, freeway and trunk road types, and set your top speed, for example 30 or 45 mph. Every route it builds then keeps you on surface streets your machine is actually allowed to use, and it times the trip at scooter speed rather than car speed.
Can a scooter or moped legally ride on an interstate or freeway in the US?
In almost every state, no. Interstates and limited-access freeways are closed to mopeds and small scooters, and states such as Virginia, Louisiana and Connecticut prohibit them outright. Interstates also post minimum speeds, commonly 40 to 50 mph, that a 30 mph moped cannot meet, and a separate slow-speed law makes it an offense to impede traffic even where no sign is posted. Rules vary by state, engine size and license class, so check your own state before you ride. A machine capped at 30 to 45 mph has no business on an interstate.
Why do Google Maps and Apple Maps route my scooter onto highways?
Because they have no scooter or moped profile. Apple Maps offers driving, walking, transit and cycling, but nothing for a low-speed powered two-wheeler. Google has a two-wheeler mode only in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and it is tuned for motorcycle speed. Waze can route motorcycles straight through highway traffic because it assumes they can filter. For a 30 to 45 mph scooter in the US, all three effectively treat you as a car, send you down freeways and interstates, and quote a car ETA you cannot hit.
How do I set my top speed so the ETA is realistic?
In Urban Rider you open the vehicle settings, choose the moped or scooter profile, and set your top speed, for example 30 mph for a 50cc moped or 45 mph for a faster scooter. The app then estimates every trip at that speed instead of at car speed, so the arrival time matches how fast you actually ride. You can change the value any time you switch machines.
Is Urban Rider free, and does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. Urban Rider is free, with no account and no subscription for routing. It is a native app on both iOS and Android, so it works on iPhone and Android phones and pairs with a handlebar mount. Your route history stays on your own device rather than on a server.
Stop letting a car app steer your scooter onto a freeway it should never see. Download Urban Rider free, pick your moped profile, switch on avoid highways, and ride on the roads your bike is actually built for.