SMU Brings New Way For Students to Get Across Campus
SMU students have a new way of getting across campus with the latest arrival of Lime-S and Bird scooters.
These motorized scooters had their debut on SMU campus on Tuesday, March 26 where representatives from both companies allowed demonstrations and relayed important information about the corresponding apps and rules for the campus.
The previously banned scooters were brought to campus with the help of the student body and student government. They worked with the companies to convince University Park to temporarily allow the scooters on campus. The scooters are still prohibited in University Park and Highland Park.
Students tested out the scooters and expressed their excitement for the new form of transportation.
“I think it’ll be more convenient to get around campus,” student Ian Perkins-Smith said. As a commuter student, he said “parking is a little bit of a mental hassle before it is a physical hassle.
“Sometimes I just stack events and it’s a crazy schedule and I’ve used these scooters to get to these events quickly and it just makes everything so much easier.”
The new scooters will use geofencing to ensure that speeds won’t go faster than 10 MPH, but they will still create a faster way for students to get across campus.
“According to the speeds, [students] should be able to get to class at least three times faster than they would be walking,” said Dave Thinel, Lime Operations Manager for DFW. “It kind of incites the kid in you a little bit, and it’s just really easy and fun.”
Graduate student Shayla Jordan works out of the Dean of Students office and said the scooters, “are nice especially for someone who lives off campus because you can potentially save money by not buying a parking pass.”
“You don’t have to think about parking in a parking garage, and it kind of saves space on campus,” Jordan said.
Along with the other perks of the scooters, “we find that a lot of times students are replacing short distance car trips with scooter trips, so it clears up traffic, congestion and reduces our carbon footprint,” a Bird’s spokesperson said.
The scooters are on a trial basis until the summer for students. Riders must be 18 years old with a driver’s license to ride and stay to the right side of all roadways, pathways, and sidewalks.
