New E-Micromobility Safety Measures Take Effect Friday

New rules for e-scooters and e-bikes that take effect on Aug. 1 aim to improve safety for the campus community while supporting these convenient transportation options.

Under the new regulations, spurred in part by fires in University of Maryland buildings caused by students charging their e-scooters indoors, campus residents will no longer be able to bring privately owned e-scooters or e-bikes to campus. In addition to residence halls, the restriction applies to university-owned fraternity and sorority houses and South Campus Commons. 

The Department of Transportation Services (DOTS) will not register vehicles belonging to campus residents, and unregistered vehicles will be booted or impounded and the owners fined.

Students who don’t live on campus can bring their electric micromobility vehicles to UMD and must annually register them, which costs $35. Registration was previously required biennially.

To help cover any resulting gap in students’ ability to travel to class or extracurriculars, Veo is increasing the number of rental vehicles in its fleet this year to from 400 to 650. The company is providing new, upgraded e-scooters and e-bikes, which include existing safety features such as speed caps, geofencing and parking controls, along with new additions like underdeck lighting and improved suspension. Service hours will be extended to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and membership plans are available to improve affordability.

Additionally, Capital Bikeshare debuted in College Park last year, with three docking stations accommodating a total of 42 vehicles. Vendors will also add staff to help ensure vehicles are available when needed.

Other micromobility changes going into effect include upping enforcement of traffic laws and ridership rules by UMD police officers and more encouragement of safety gear use, to include a giveaway of helmets and lights in the coming semester.

The new regulations and initiatives were developed with input from a group of students and staff about challenges stemming from increased use of e-micromobility vehicles, said David Allen, executive director of DOTS.

“This topic is relevant to everyone, because we all see some of the unsafe behavior and concerning things happening every day,” Allen said. “The workgroup tackled the issues comprehensively and realistically, and identified workable strategies.”

A former Student Government Association representative who served on the workgroup, Paisley Brockmeyer ’25, said there’s unusually strong support from all quarters for the university’s new rules, as evidenced by discussion on social media platforms including Reddit.

“When you see the amount of student support for the policy changes, it’s a win,” said Brockmeyer. “These aren’t arbitrary changes that are being made; the micromobility workgroup carefully considered all of the available information.”

UMD has long sought to manage the influx of e-micromobility vehicles to provide both safety and utility on campus, Allen said.

“We know that for some people, this is a useful mode of transportation to campus,” he said. “The university has been a leader in tackling this in a positive way, and the new changes are meant to help keep this going as a safe and convenient transportation option.”