Students are investing in electric scooters to commute across campus; however, the uprising of scooter popularity is controversial as some say they are dangerous and others find them convenient.
Thomas Risner, freshman digital entertainment major from Dallas, said the scooters are cost-ineffective and an overall inconvenience.
“My complaints with the scooters are that they’re everywhere, and they’re always in the way,” Risner said. “They don’t use Bean bucks and then they’re overcharged by a dollar per minute.”
Risner said the Bird scooters – a popular scooter renting company – charge one dollar per minute of use.
“I rode one for fun one time, and then I saw I got charged 10 bucks for only being on for 10 minutes and I was like, uh, never riding that again,” Risner said.
Melanee Moccia, freshman child and family development major from College Station was injured in a scooter accident.
“So, one of the scooters locked into cruise control, which I didn’t know they could do that,” Moccia said. “And it launched me off of the scooter and I got road rash all down my leg.”
Along with the cruise control function, Moccia ran into some other issues – literally.
“The other day, well, this is my fault, but I ran into the scooter, and I like almost broke my pinky toe,” Moccia said.
Scooters brought indoors can also create problems. The Bean is a common location for students to leave their scooters. As students arrive for lunch, they park their scooters indoors – typically before they scan in.
“I tripped over one once,” bean worker Danny Morris said. “That’s it. I don’t think it needs to be in here. It is quite dangerous.”
Athletes can also be seen using scooters on campus.
Football player John Gill, freshman biology major from Spring, loves his scooter.
“I do have a scooter, yeah,” Gill said. “I love it ‘cause I have to be to the other side of the campus where, the Powell weight room is, every single day.”
Gill said scooters offer efficiency and convenience to early-morning commuters.
“So, it’s usually like a five-minute drive,” Gill said. “it’s like a 15-minute walk. So, with the scooter, it makes a lot easier, It’s efficient.”
Ethan Larrew, junior political science major from Fort Collins, Colorado, has similar opinions to Risner regarding campus scooters.
“A lot of times they are in the way on sidewalks,” Larrew said. “Oftentimes they are underused as they are unaccessible to most people because people don’t want to get to the app to actually use the scooters.”
Larrew, however, found his solution in owning a personal scooter.
“I found having access to a personal scooter is much more viable a solution for myself,” Larrew said.
Contrary to popular belief, ACUPD has not had any major issues with scooters.
ACUPD detective sergeant Matthew Fox and police officer Michelle Gregory said they have not had any notable occurrences.
“I’ve only been here a little over a month, so I haven’t had any reports in that time,” Gregory said.
