“Christmas morning” was how one sergeant with the CSU Monterey Bay Police Department described the scene when electric scooters popped up on campus. Students got busy zipping around on the “new toys,” says Chief Earl Lawson. More than 200 of the scooters were introduced by San Francisco-based Lime on Sept. 28 in a partnership with the university.
“Students love it,” Lawson says. “They’ve embraced it and it’s a great way to get around campus.”
The decision to bring in Lime scooters came after a year of talks by a collaboration of students and staff contemplating different “sustainable transportation modes” to get people around the sprawling campus built on the former Fort Ord as part of a draft master plan update. The new plan focuses on future building around the Main Quad to transform what CSUMB spokesperson Noah Rappahahn says are “historically blighted sites” on campus into pedestrian-centric spaces. The challenge is how to get students and staff from parking lots on the outer edges of the campus toward the center, and that’s where scooters looked like a potential solution.
A NEW LAW THAT TAKES EFFECT JAN. 1 MAKES HELMETS OPTIONAL.
Lime helped grease the introduction with free ride codes early on, and currently a discounted code is offered on the CSUMB website. Users download the app to their cell phone and add personal information, as well as a credit or debit card. It costs $1 to activate a ride, plus $0.15 per minute. The scooters can travel at speeds up to 15 miles per hour.
Each scooter is equipped with a GPS tracker showing prospective riders where available scooters are located nearby. Users unlock their app when they approach a scooter, but scofflaws who try to make off with them get an automated warning message.
Lime relies on independent contractors called “juicers” who “harvest” scooters left around town, charge them overnight, and replace them by 7am. Scooters have turned up many places off campus as far away as Monterey, although most remain clustered around Marina and northern Seaside.
There was a learning curve in the first couple of weeks, Lawson says. Campus police issued warnings to riders not following traffic laws – not stopping at stop signs and multiple riders on a single scooter are two big issues – and scattered scooters created trip hazards.
There are also safety concerns, especially after several students were transported to local hospitals, including one for a broken leg and another for a dislocated shoulder, Lawson says.
(Lime was named in a class-action lawsuit filed nine injured people Oct. 19 in Los Angeles County.)
At a campus safety forum on Oct. 17, one audience member wanted to know if campus police would make helmets available to prevent head injuries. No, Lawson said, but there are plans to promote safety education through short videos on social media that will encourage helmet use. California law currently requires helmets for riders, but a new law that takes effect on Jan. 1 makes helmets optional for adults age 18 and older. Lawson says police are no longer writing tickets for the offense.
As the newness wears off, Lawson predicts students who were trying out the scooters for fun will focus more on transportation needs only – especially when credit and debit card statements come due at the end of the month.