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Your dockless scootorial

AHEC is working with motorized-scooter companies to establish rules of the road.

By Lindsey Coulter

August 21, 2018

Bird scooter parked outsideLove them or loathe them, dockless scooters have quickly become a fixture on Denver streets. When companies Bird and Lime introduced 700 motorized two-wheelers across the city in June, it was only a matter of time until they appeared on the Auraria Higher Education Campus.

After developing a formal permitting procedure and guidelines for use, the City of Denver announced in July that three additional scooter companies and three dockless-bike companies will soon introduce a total of 1,750 scooters and 1,150 bicycles, respectively, across Denver. The one-year pilot program allows scooter users to zip along sidewalks but not on roadways or in bike lanes.

Anticipating that these app-tracked alternative modes of transportation will prove popular with students and faculty and staff members alike, AHEC is developing guidelines for scooter use to keep students, faculty, staff and visitors safe — whether they’re on two feet or two wheels.

In a statement released Aug. 16, AHEC officials noted that “operating scooters on the busy pedestrian pathways and sidewalks on the Auraria Campus is a major safety concern.” While the entire campus property is a no-ride/no-park zone, that will soon change.

AHEC’s Campus Planning Department is already working with Lime and Bird to establish more nuanced, campus-specific operating agreements that allow for measured use of the devices while still ensuring pedestrian and user safety. For example, scooter users may soon be able to operate the devices within designated campus bike lanes and park at existing bike racks. AHEC officials expect to issue a campuswide announcement explaining all of the operating rules in late September, provided that all parties are able to reach an agreement.

“The campus is looking forward to creating the agreements with the dockless-scooter and -bike companies so that this new alternative transportation option will be available to the campus community as soon as possible,” AHEC said in a statement.

Questions or suggestions concerning the dockless scooters can be directed to AHEC Senior Campus Planner Carl Meese at carl.meese@ahec.edu.

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