Milwaukee’s Department of Public Works is conducting a survey about electronic scooters to find out whether they can be a safe and viable new way of transportation for the city.
E-scooters are not allowed on the UW-Milwaukee campus, but on surrounding streets, they’re an option for students to travel short distances. Students were mostly seen using the Lime scooters during warmer temperatures, especially when buses were late or delayed.
“It is a great way to stay out of the weather and quickly go home,” said student Emmy Rino. “Usually, I use it when I’m rushing to class.”
According to City of Milwaukee officials, the “Dockless Scooter Pilot Study Survey” hopes to find out if people approve of the e-scooters as a secondary source of transportation. Marketing and Communications Officer Brian DeNeve presented the first update of the survey following the public’s feedback from September to October.
“Ridership’s seems very strong, there’s been an overall 3,500 rides per day as the daily average and right now, for the month of October it is roughly 2,500 rides,” he said.
UWM Perspectives on Scooters
Many of those rides derived from UW-Milwaukee. UWM Director of External Relations Keri Duce suggests students to use the scooters on the streets near UWM campus, not on sidewalks.
“Students are encouraged to use the scooters, but since those scooters are not permitted on UWM grounds, students are warned to only use them on the street for the safety of other students,” Duce said.
Some UWM students did not understand why the scooters were scattered around the East Side, if they couldn’t use them on campus. According to UWM Transportation Services, no person can use electronic vehicles regardless of the surface on university property.
“The scooters are nice and all, but I just don’t understand how the scooters are next to my classes and I can’t simply use it to go across to my next class without it beeping at me,” said Johnathan Stone, an engineering student.
Scooter Study Deadline
The goals of the study are to increase and expand access to transportation options and evaluate the impact of safe riding, but weather might force the study to end earlier than planned. The study began in July, and now that it’s snowing, City of Milwaukee officials might decide to end the study.
“The pilot will go into December 31, but admittedly we have winter weather coming that’ll come sooner than that,” DeNeve said. “There’s a good chance just for the safety reasons of those operating the scooters and for snow clearing purposes along with just the overall safety of the roadways, we may end up pulling the plug by having the scooters removed prior to that.”
Over the last couple of weeks, UWM students noticed that the scooters have been scarce around campus due to the weather. On November 15, City of Milwaukee officials decided to take the dockless scooters off the streets. With that, students have been taking the bus more often. For some, it wasn’t an issue. For others, it was a money issue.
“I don’t have a bus card and enough money on me to take the bus whenever it gets a bit chilly outside,” said UWM Nursing student Capricia Mone. “I was able to make it home for under $2 when the scooters were out here more.”
Though some UWM students have a few criticisms regarding the motorized vehicle, most of them agreed that they hope the scooters stay in the city of Milwaukee. Even some visitors on the UWM campus agreed that the scooters should stay in the city as it could help attract tourists.
“I know that the scooters are in other cities and all, but I live in Chicago and I don’t see them as nearly I do when I come up here,” Watkins said. “I think that Milwaukee could make those scooters look more fun since there’s so many different brands and colors along with them.”
The Milwaukee Police Department reported four vehicles crashed in November in accidents related to scooters.
More than 6,800 people responded to the survey. Once the pilot study is done, the Department will either recommend continuing the program, creating a formal business license for companies, or to take the scooters off the streets. To give feedback, UWM students can take the survey in English or Spanish on the Department of Public Works website.