SJSU Students Say Goodbye to E-Scooters On Campus

Leaders at San Jose State University (SJSU) have had enough of all e-devices. A new SJSU ordinance effective in February 2019 bans anyone from operating e-scooters, e-skateboards, and e-bikes on the university’s campus.

Ever since e-scooters were introduced into San Jose one year ago, SJSU police have received hundreds of complaints related to these devices. Some of the most common complaints police have responded to involve e-scooters parked in hazardous areas and people tripping on the devices.

Immediately after this law went into place on February 25, 2019, SJSU gathered over 80 rentable e-scooters parked on campus. Officials said they expect e-scooter rental companies to pay the university before SJSU returns the devices.

According to university leaders, the SJSU campus isn’t ideal for this new technology. At only 90 acres, SJSU’s campus is the smallest in the California State University system. Despite SJSU’s small size, it has to accommodate over 40,000 residents.

SJSU says people should feel free to use e-scooters throughout the city of San Jose—so long as they don’t bring them on campus grounds. There are now designated e-scooter and e-bike parking areas near the university for people who still use these devices outside of SJSU.

California-based e-scooter companies Lime and Bird, both of which operate in San Jose, are working closely with SJSU to spread the word on this new policy. Indeed, Lime e-scooters will now notify users if they’ve parked their device in an off-limits area of campus.

As this new law is implemented, police will issue warnings to students who are caught operating or parking these devices on SJSU’s campus. Repeat offenders, however, could have to deal with citations.

It’s important to note this new law only affects motorized devices. Students can still legally use skateboards, scooters, or bicycles, provided they travel no faster than 5 miles per hour.

For more info on legally riding dockless e-scooters in San Jose, please visit this webpage put together by the City of San Jose. You could also check out Lime or Bird’s official websites at http://www.li.me/ or http://www.bird.co/, respectively.