FIVE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL COLLEGE SCOOTER PROGRAM
Would you like to build a university and college scooter program that enables a win-win partnership between administration and students?
If you are members of a university or college, read on for a two minute primer on identifying challenges, collaborating on solutions, and achieving positive outcomes for your students and you.
Background on Electric Scooters on Campus
As part of our work with colleges and universities we have heard one consistent message over the last two years.
“Our students are buying e-scooters and taking over our campus!”
The schools recognize the significant validated benefits of electric scooters.
Student owned electric scooters are:
Good for the environment - achieve your sustainability goals
Cheaper than cars - saves students money
Cheaper for universities and colleges to facilitate - lower infrastructure costs than parking garages and less campus traffic congestion than cars
Shorter commute times to and from campus and other surrounding locations
Easy and fun to use - students love scooters!
But university transportation, housing, facilities, deans of students, sustainability, campus police and security, and legal and risk departments all experience the persistent challenges of unregistered scooters parked in dorms and campus buildings. The lack of centralized university run scooter programs with secure outdoor charging infrastructure is increasing the hard costs and soft costs tied to student owned scooters. The costs include:
Increased Fire & Life Liabilities. Scooter batteries are a fire risk and create significant liabilities when stored inside dorms and university buildings. Keep your students and staff safe and your insurance premiums lower by adding a safe, outdoor charging solution.
Increased Dorm and Building Maintenance Costs. University housing and maintenance departments are paying more for maintenance as students bring scooters in and out of campus buildings and increase the wear and tear on floors and walls. Reduce your hard maintenance and repair costs by adding a safe, outdoor charging solution for scooters.
Unsightly Vehicle Clutter. Scooters are parked haphazardly across campus and in classroom buildings, dorms, athletic facilities, and additional campus buildings. The “Scooter Clutter” creates a messy contrasting visual and detracts from the carefully manicured appearance of universities. Add a stop on your campus tour to show parents and students how you eliminated scooter clutter by adding a neat, visually appealing outdoor charging solution for scooters.
Theft of Unsecured Scooters. Campus police and security report an increase in scooter theft associated with the significant increase in popularity of scooters at universities. Reduce theft on campus and help your students avoid unnecessary monetary loss by adding a locking option to your outdoor charging solution for scooters.
Public disagreements between students and university and college administration. Many schools have hastily implemented ad-hoc policies that have removed the benefits of scooters while antagonizing students. Many universities have adopted guidelines that are not enforced and leave the school at risk for higher liabilities and maintenance costs.
We have identified Five Keys to help you and your students realize the benefits of electric scooters while reducing and eliminating the costs and risks associated with the four challenges described above.
Research and Partner on an Outdoor Scooter Charging Solution. Implementing an outdoor charging solution for personally owned electric scooters immediately reduces fire and life liabilities and dorm and campus building maintenance and repair costs.
Consider the benefits of a product that combines charging and locking features. Scooter riders value and more easily adopt multifunction solutions that combine charging and security.
Leverage the learnings from additional amenities you provide to students to balance control and flexibility. Universities have demonstrated that centralizing awareness, purchase, and distribution of key student purchases and amenities ( IT such as laptops, transportation, etc) provide a better mix of savings and process optimization to students, parents, and the school. Centralization also provides an easier way to gather data about the program and make adjustments for ongoing improvement. The data is also critical to validating the lower risk profile from housing scooters outside of dorms.
Experiment quickly and build for scalability. Partner on a pilot that provides outdoor scooter charging at a few locations at the end of Winter Semester or in the Summer. The pilot will enable easier ways to learn and iterate and ultimately deliver on faster time to value for both the school and students.
Promote, Promote, Promote! Partnering with your students on the four keys above will unlock significant benefits from your new electric scooter program. You can build on the early momentum by collaborating with key student constituencies who are invested in the success of the program, such as student environmental and sustainability groups and transportation and mobility clubs. You can also promote the programs and build awareness by including the new charging locations as part of your campus tours for prospective students and parents. Celebrate your wins!
We hope this analysis has contributed to a better understanding of electric scooters' potential to deliver sustainable and user-friendly transportation options for university and college students. By focusing on the five key goals summarized in this paper, universities can build a win-win partnership with students and contribute to the overall success and acceptance of scooter programs at your campus.
Who We Are:
Kuhmute provides an IoT connected, integrated charging and locking solution for micro-transit vehicles (e-scooters and e-bikes). Our solutions can be deployed at university and college campuses, multi-family housing including off-campus housing for students, and corporate and public transit sites.
To learn more about how KUHMUTE partners with colleges and universities and off-campus housing on e-scooter and e-bike charge and lock solutions contact sanji@kuhmute.com
