As the City of San Luis Obispo prolongs the adoption of e-scooters, Cal Poly is proposing steps to make it more difficult for companies like Bird or Lime to drop a fleet of scooters on campus.
A proposal by Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) included a $75 fee for scooters left by companies on campus.
Electric scooters are treated the same way as skateboards and have been banned from campus “since they began appearing,” University Spokesperson Matt Lazier wrote in an email to Mustang News. This proposed policy is aimed at stopping companies from bringing their products to campus, not students from riding them.
Many campuses have experienced “rogue drops” by companies that have left behind hundreds of e-scooters at a time. In an effort to minimize the possibility of this happening, Cal Poly aims to direct this fee toward companies to charge them for necessary clean-up and storage.
Lazier cited public safety as the main reason for banning scooters. Due to the walkways and crosswalks becoming very congested between classes, fast-moving devices can create a safety hazard.
Not everyone agrees with the ban.
“As an e-scooter owner, I think they’re not much different from bicycles,” city and regional planning graduate student Mark Pasanen said. “They’re also equipped with breaks that work pretty well too.”
Pasanen said University Police (UPD) has stopped him for using a manual scooter, but that he has not been cited.
“I think e-scooters should be allowed,” construction management freshman Courtney Martin said. “If bikes are allowed, then why not? I don’t see a problem with it.”
San Jose State University also banned e-scooters and similarly cited collisions and falls as one of the main reasons for their ban.