Zones to park electronic scooters have been created to attempt to declutter campus. Credit: Courtesy of OSU
The Department of Transportation and Traffic Management launched parking zones earlier this month specifically for electric scooters that arrived on campus in fall 2018.
The university installed 13 parking zones around the Oval and academic core buildings. The zones are located at Hughes, Hopkins, Derby, Denney, University, and Orton halls, Mendenhall Laboratory, Thompson Library and the Ohio Union South Garage.
The parking zones can typically be found near building entrances and bicycle racks.
Dan Hedman, university spokesperson said the university conducted studies and found that riders are parking scooters where they may block accessible walkways and entrances.
“Our goal is, it starts to become the new normal to look for this marked parking zone for the scooter and to leave it there, so that it doesn’t get left in the way or potentially in an ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] pathway,” Hedman said.
Kelly Kollmer, a third-year in health sciences, said she noticed that scooters can pose a danger to pedestrians when not used properly.
“Some people are reckless with [scooters] and some people will stick in that one spot and follow you forever. The bikes and skateboards are the same way; sometimes they cut you off or can be a little dangerous,” Kollmer said.
Hedman said the parking zones were strategically placed around the Oval to enforce the university’s walk-zone policy.
“A scooter or a bicycle are not actually supposed to be ridden across the Oval. You’re supposed to walk across the Oval and that’s for safety purposes,” Hedman said. “There’s a lot of pedestrian traffic on the Oval, so we’re just trying to limit the amount of traffic.”
The university plans to expand the parking zones to other areas to make campus traversable for all.
