Matthew Hazlett/ The Towerlight

Towson University Parking and Transportation, along with Towson University Police, will step up their efforts to ensure the University’s policy on motorized scooters on campus is enforced.

Director of Parking Services Pamela Mooney said while the policy is not new to campus, the level of enforcement of the policy will be improved.

“TUPD will be on the lookout for scooters on pedestrian walkways and will be writing citations for those who are driving scooters where they shouldn’t be,” she said. “Parking and Transportation will deal with where the scooters are parked. They should not be on bike racks outside residence halls.”

Mooney said that permits for scooters are free.

“We will be writing citations for those who don’t follow those restrictions,” she said. “If it has to go beyond a citation, we will impound the scooters and charge a fee to get them back.”

Mooney said the main reason behind the policy is to keep motorized scooters away from pedestrians to guarantee that the scooters don’t injure pedestrians, although there have been no reported accidents this year.

Freshman Aimee Clark said safety should be the main concern on campus when dealing with the scooters.

“I don’t mind them being outside buildings,” she said. “But I think there should be rules about where they are allowed to be driven. I shouldn’t have to be jumping out of the way for the scooters going 30 mph weaving between students on the sidewalk.”

The number of complaints about scooter usage has increased this semester among the campus community, according to Mooney, mainly because the total number of scooters on campus has increased.

“I think they are becoming increasingly popular because of how high gas prices are getting and people are looking at cheaper alternatives to get around campus,” Mooney said. “Also, scooters are just becoming the new ‘thing’ for people to have.”

University Residence Government President-elect Justin Schwendeman said deciding which department deals with scooters concerns was complicated for administration.

“Parking and Transportation does not deal with actual moving vehicles, TUPD does,” he said. “The policy that they are going to implement is great. It will finally force those students who are parking at bike racks to move their scooters to garages. With the impoundment it will make those who are unaware of the policies aware of it and help improve scooter usage on campus.”

Mooney said Parking and Transportation Services will educate students on the policy as this semester ends, and again at the beginning of next semester.

“Students should recognize that we have responsibility to ensure safety, and we will be stepping up enforcement,” she said. “Our hope is that students will cooperate with this and take advantages of the free permits that we offer.”