Walking from the furthest spot in a parking lot to class? You might be able to make that trek with a rentable electric scooter soon instead of on foot.
Clemson University Student Government (CUSG) Senate is working to try and bring the alternative transportation method to campus by the end of next spring, which may help alleviate pressure on parking and other methods. Two companies, Lime and Spin, are currently talking with the Senate to start a pilot program for the scooters.
“We have gained a lot of student and admin support for the implementation of scooters on campus,” said Senator Jerry Finney, chair of the Transportation and Facilities committee. “We do not expect this to be done by the end of 2021 but have high hopes for the end of the spring semester.”
One proposal by Spin includes a phased deployment of scooters on campus, with 50 to 100 scooters placed at the pre-existing bike share stations across campus. The scooters would be usable in a geofenced zone that includes all of campus, with Perimeter Road as the boundary.
Scooters will likely not be free to rent. Rather, they would act on a pay-as-you-go model, with a low-income discount available to students through the Office of Student Financial Aid.
This is not the first attempt to implement scooters at Clemson. An attempt was made in 2019 but got shot down after both the University and City of Clemson expressed concerns over the geofencing technology. Geofencing would have kept the scooters on-campus and out of downtown, but the university officials were weary of its effectiveness at the time.
Spin has implemented its scooters at other universities across the country, including Purdue University, Virginia Tech and Duke University. Purdue approached the launch carefully in 2019 with clarified rules on operation and parking of scooters, while Duke’s launch was less than perfect.
“About 10 students have gotten themselves into accidents on scooters since August, with some resulting in ‘serious’ head injuries, broken teeth and sprained knees,” wrote The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper, six months after scooters were implemented on campus.
Rules regarding electric scooters are also unclear in South Carolina. There is no designation for scooters under the law, only for motorcycles and mopeds. Mopeds on campus have specific rules that may present issues for electric scooters, including a prohibition on driving on sidewalks and a requirement that all riders under the age of 21 wear a helmet.
The Tiger reached out to Parking and Transportation Services for additional information but did not receive a response by print time.
