FAYETTEVILLE : Rise in scooters pushes UA rules
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/235507/
FAYETTEVILLE — D. J. Williams enjoyed tooling around the University of Arkansas campus on his motorized scooter last year.
While other students circled remote parking lots repeatedly in search of a vacant space, he could park right outside a classroom building if he wanted.
But things are changing.
As Williams walked his scooter up to the Northwest Quad dormitory complex during lunchtime Tuesday, he said the grapevine’s abuzz with news that the freedom of parking a scooter at any campus bicycle rack is over.
“We’ve been parking here, and all of a sudden we’re getting tickets,” said the sophomore communications major from Little Rock, who can ride for days on a $ 3 fill-up from his off-campus home.
And, added Williams, 19, who’s also a tight end for the Razorbacks, don’t believe the myth that football players get out of their tickets.
“Yeah ! I got a ticket,” he said — to the tune of $ 50.
UA parking and police officials said they’ve seen a noticeable increase in the number of scooters on campus since last fall.
They don’t have hard numbers yet. To gauge that, you would at least have to have a scooter permit system, designated parking spaces and a significant history of enforcement.
Enforcement officials have been busy on the first two days of fall classes trying to get those systems in place and get the word to students.
Andy Gilbride, program adviser for UA’s transit and parking department, said officials there were still working Tuesday morning to add striping and signs for scooter parking around campus.
The department has a map online at www. parking. uark. edu / parkmap. pdf showing some initial scooter spaces, but he said they don’t plan to stop there and don’t know when they’ll stop adding them.
For instance, though the map doesn’t yet show it, officials are planning to add about 20 scooter spaces at the northwest corner of Reynolds Razorback Stadium, which already has a half-dozen or so spaces in the northeast corner.
“It started, definitely, last year with a lot of the athletes riding scooters,” Gilbride said. “If an athlete’s doing it, nobody’s going to say it’s not cool.”
But many riders weren’t aware there was a state law, A. C. A. 27-20-111, forbidding motorized bicycles on sidewalks, and UA policies hadn’t caught up with the trend until some pedestrians started complaining, campus spokesman Steve Voorhies said.
“I personally shared the sidewalk with a motor scooter a couple of times going, ‘What the heck ?’” Voorhies said. “Basically, scooters were being treated like bicycles by the riders and the campus.”
UA administrators issued notice earlier this summer that enforcement was coming, but not all students have received the message, Williams said.
“We haven’t written many tickets,” said Crain, adding that university police handle moving violations and leave the parking enforcement to Gilbride’s department.
For years, the UA Police Department has conducted “Operation Saturation,” a time early in the fall semester when more officers are assigned to day shifts in highly visible areas to answer questions and handle traffic. This year, they’ve added distribution of scooter fliers to the officers’ assignments, Crain said.
UA also has long offered motorcycle parking permits, which now cost $ 45. 07 per year. But the scooter permits are different and cost just $ 6. 10 per year, Gilbride said.
“If somebody comes and buys a scooter permit for a motorcycle, when we see them in the parking spots, we’ll know,” he said, and they could get a ticket for $ 100.
Any motorized two-wheeler with a 49 cc engine or smaller qualifies as a scooter, though some low-powered motorcycles resemble scooters, he said.
Should the permit holder suffer from confusion, “I’m sure we could get it worked out,” Gilbride said.
Williams recalled that he wanted a scooter after seeing other athletes with them. The gas savings and convenience were big pluses.
But then, he started noticing other students on them, and even professors.
“I saw a 60-year-old lady on one the other day,” Williams said.
SCOOTER RULES The University of Arkansas is starting to enforce state laws and rules for scooters on the Fayetteville campus. The rules include: All two-wheeled vehicles with a 50 cc engine or larger are considered motorcycles and must be licensed and have a UA motorcycle permit. Scooters have engines smaller than 50 cc and must be registered on campus. Scooter permits are $ 6. 10 annually and motorcycles are $ 45. 07. Scooters are not allowed on sidewalks. Parking spaces are set aside for scooters and motorcycles in areas scattered around campus. Scooters cannot be parked by bike racks or locked to trees, signs or handrails.