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WORLD NEWS: - Scooter outrage could change UNC policy[img]http://tinyurl.com/n6ddzc[/img][img]http://tinyurl.com/nxpd6z[/img]; PIWYR NEWS: - - University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill board of trustees
Topic Started: Saturday, 27. June 2009, 00:06 (226 Views)
Post #1 Saturday, 27. June 2009, 00:06 Posted Imageobxbiker
Scooter outrage could change UNC policy

hey're not hog-riding Hells Angels, but UNC's scooter riders are still a force to be reckoned with.
Last May, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill board of trustees quietly approved an amendment to a traffic ordinance that would require those riding mopeds and scooters on campus to purchase a parking permit and to put their vehciles in designated spaces.

The decision enraged scooter riders, and the outcry has prompted the board of trustees to possibly reconsider the issue next month.

The 45-page ordinance regulates traffic and parking on campus. The portion that is attracting attention expands a category of vehicles that must be registered from "motoped/ motorbike" to "motorized two-wheeled vehicles." Currently, any moped or scooter with an engine larger than 50 cubic centimeters must be registered with UNC, but the new language includes all mopeds and scooters.

The N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles requires only those with larger engines to be registered with the state.

The ordinance, which would become effective Aug. 15, also explicitly puts scooters in the same category as motorcycles. It would require a permit and parking space for scooters on campus and prohibit driving scooters on sidewalks.

Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor for campus services, said scooter riders have caused problems around campus because they speed and drive them on sidewalks. She said that while UNC promotes alternative forms of transportation, scooters and mopeds still use fossil fuels, even if at a lower rate than automobiles.

Small scooters have fuel efficiencies of up to 100 miles per gallon.

"They do take up space on campus, which is already at a premium," Elfland said. "We're not saying you can't ride them."

Vincent Gonzalez, a UNC graduate student, started a Facebook group protesting the policy change. Last week, he discussed the decision with other scooter owners, including Gordon and Alvaro Gomez, at a meeting in Carrboro. Gonzalez said including scooters in the same category as motorcycles would be detrimental to both groups.

"Motorcycle riders will understandably not want all of us crowding their spaces," he said. "Not just scooter riders have a stake in this."

Scooter owners at the meeting called UNC's decision "regressive" and noted it contradicts the university's message of environmental sustainability. They also speculated the new policy could sour relations with the town of Chapel Hill and could make scooter theft more common.

Steven Gordon, a UNC employee, said the change would lead to greater scooter traffiic in downtown Chapel Hill, already heavily trafficked, as people look for places to park their scooters.

Since scooters with engines smaller than 50 cubic centimeters don't have to be registered with the state, their owners would likely park in town instead of on campus. He also questioned the environmental impact of more people driving cars.

"What's going to happen to [the University's] image as part of the community?" he said. "What about sustainability?"

In an e-mail to the board of trustees, Gordon pointed out possible complications with parking a moped in a regular motorcycle parking spot. There are no bicycle racks in these spots, and scooters would be parked, unlocked.

"I certainly do not want to leave my small moped parked unchained where it can be easily stolen and put into the back of a truck or van," he said.

Gonzalez said he has had two scooters stolen in three years, even though they were secured and in the middle of campus. He said that it would be even more difficult to secure his scooter in an empty parking space or in an isolated parking garage.

Gomez, the assistant director of UNC Disability Services, shares one car with his wife. Now that the couple has a 10-week-old child, Gomez has been leaving his car at home and driving his orange-and-brown SYM Mio 50 to work.

"The scooter is a godsend to get there," he said. "But we've thought about getting a second car now."

Roger Perry, board of trustees chairman, said he has received a number of e-mails regarding the change and forwarded the issue to Elfland to be re-examined.

"Enough people complained that Carolyn was surprised," Perry said. "Her initial reaction to me was that nothing onerous was being done to these folks."

Perry said UNC officials plan to look into the issue before the board of trustees' July meeting, adding that he hopes the ordinance can be changed if problems are found.

"There is no reason why the university would intentionally do something unfair or inequitable," he said. "There's certainly no reason to do it in this case."
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Post #2 Monday, 13. July 2009, 12:55 Posted Imageobxbiker
UNC, SCOOTER RIDERS SCUFFLE
Outcry from vehicle owners forces UNC to rethink new regulations
Chapel Hill News, ERIC FERRERI
STAFF WRITER

An online petition and letter-writing campaign by local scooter riders have gotten the attention of UNC officials, who now say they will take a second look at a May decision to regulate the small, eco-friendly vehicles.
UNC's Board of Trustees approved an annual parking plan two months ago that requires scooter riders to buy permits and park them in designated lots.
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An unattended, untethered scooter is parked conveniently at the front steps of Caldwell Hall on UNC's campus Tuesday morning. The handy, go-practically-anywhere scooters, which had been unregulated on campus, have recently come under new rules.

The new regulation would take affect Aug. 15. UNC has never regulated scooters before, and those who ride them have enjoyed the freedom to putter through campus and park close to their destinations.

But an increase in scooters -- likely prompted by last year's spike in gasoline prices -- led campus officials to include them in parking regulations.

UNC employees would pay between $174 and $371 for a one-year scooter permit, based on salary level. For students, the cost would be $175, or $44 if they also have a campus parking permit. Scooters would share space with motorcycles in designated lots.

     By comparison: At N.C. State, all scooter users must buy a $60 permit, though students with campus parking permits pay just $5 for the additional scooter sticker. At Duke, scooters permits are $25, or free if you have a car permit.

At UNC, the change has scooter riders crying foul over the new cost and concerned over the safety and security of their vehicles. Some see it as an insult to commuters trying to be environmentally responsible.

     UNC officials say it's a safety measure. While UNC has long mandated that motorcycle riders buy permits, these scooters -- with small engines of 50 cubic centimeters or less -- have not been covered until now.

"We're not saying we don't want you riding scooters," said Carolyn Elfland, associate vice chancellor for campus services. "We want them parked. They're not governed. They just go anywhere."

Indeed, they can go nearly anywhere, and for Brian Moynihan, that's much of the charm. He and his wife live in Carrboro and work in adjacent buildings on UNC's medical campus. So they ride in to work each day on Moynihan's scooter and park it -- for free -- outside Moynihan's building.

Moynihan, a graduate student at UNC's information sciences program, created an online petition protesting the new regulations and asking scooter riders to plead their case to administrators. It quickly attracted more than 200 signatories, many of whom say the policy change will bring more cars to campus.

"If people have to pay, they might just go back to using their cars," Moynihan said. "That's exactly what we don't want to happen."

Roger Perry, chairman of UNC's Board of Trustees, said he expects his board to review the regulations when it meets later this month.

Elfland said the change isn't a money grab. In fact, it is difficult to project the potential revenue because nobody knows just how many scooter riders there are at UNC.

David Jansen, owner of Scooters, Inc., a Carrboro scooter vendor, estimates there are "hundreds" of scooters in Carrboro alone.

"It seems like a revenue-based decision for the university because they lose revenue whenever someone goes from paying a faculty rate for parking to a scooter," he said.

Scooter interest peaked last year when gas prices climbed to $4 a gallon and has tapered since, Jansen said.

"The scooter is still the ultimate urban commute vehicle," he said.

Scooters generally cost between $2,000 and $4,500, Jansen said; they get about 80 miles to the gallon.

At UNC, many riders chain their scooters to bicycle racks, while some simply lean them up against buildings. Elfland said the university plans to provide large, metal anchors similar to bike racks where scooters can be secured.

Cheryl Stout, UNC's assistant director for parking services, said she wasn't aware of any accidents caused by scooters on campus. But she has noticed the number of scooters increasing; campus policy already prohibits scooters from being operated on sidewalks, a rule rarely enforced in the past.

"It has definitely become a concern," she said. "These scooters are traveling at high rates of speed on sidewalks."





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Post #3 Friday, 24. July 2009, 03:33 Posted Imageobxbiker
[you] , anything to add ? :HATOFF:


THANK YOU

[note] This is the new ''BUMP'' Auto-Tool auto post using the ''you'' tag so it reflects the readers username...[/note]




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Post #4 Friday, 11. September 2009, 07:20 Posted Imageobxbiker
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