By Stori Rounds
There is a rise in electric scooter use on Stonehill’s campus, which, in the next few years could
help improve the College in many ways.
There are many benefits to using an electric scooter at Stonehill, an obvious one being the speed
at which you can get across campus, which has the potential to decrease the number of students
who tend to run late. I have an electric scooter and was able to get across campus in under three
minutes.
Electric scooters are especially helpful for athletes since many have practice or lift right before
class and electric scooters ensure less stress and tired legs. This may be the reason they are
mostly seen being used by athletes on campus.
Another benefit is that students are less likely to complain about the limited parking on campus if given access to electric scooters. If students need to park far away, such as in the back of Lot 17, then they tend to get concerned and aggravated with how far they must walk to get
back to their dorm or class. However, if they have an electric scooter available, then they can
easily get to where they are going in no time and parking becomes less of an issue for students.
Lastly, a more cliche benefit is that using electric scooters is just plain fun.
I originally got my scooter for Christmas because it was something that I wanted to use with my
friends around town; it was fast and fun. After getting the scooter, I realized that using it on
campus would be practical in addition to providing pure enjoyment. While there may not be an
exact study to prove this, I think that when students use electric scooters on campus, they are
more likely to want to go to class knowing they get to ride there.
Stonehill can embrace the increase in electric scooter usage by doing two things: create more
bike racks and places to park scooters on campus, and start having scooters available to rent.
There are few bike racks or places to lock electric scooters on campus, so I often find myself and
others needing to lock them to railings. If Stonehill invests in electric scooters on campus and
creates a rental system, such as bike rentals through “Citi Bike” in New York City, our campus
transportation could be improved.
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