Sacramento State and Spin partner to roll out e-scooters for start of spring semester
Sacramento State announced a partnership with Spin electric scooters Tuesday, making the university the second California campus, and the first in the California State University system, to offer them.
According to a news release, the fleet is part of the first approved e-scooter program to hit Sac State, which will deploy up to 200 of the vehicles on campus. Owned by the Ford Motor Company, Spin e-scooters can be found in 62 cities, six of those in California, and 21 campuses across the nation, including the University of California, San Diego.
Sac State community members will be able to access the scooters through the Spin app, which will charge users $1 to unlock, with rides costing 20 cents per minute.
Anita Fitzhugh, Sac State public information officer, said the scooters will operate within a GPS-defined geo-fence that will regulate where scooters may be ridden on campus. They will automatically power down once the electronic boundary has been crossed.
The university changed its policy in January 2019 to state: “The use or operation of any wheeled device, motorized wheeled device, or partially motorized wheeled device inside the Campus Pedestrian zone is strictly prohibited.”
Exemptions to the policy include medically prescribed mobility devices for people with disabilities, electronic personal assistive mobility devices, any other device deemed as reasonable accommodation for disability access and mobility, and all wheeled devices used by campus police or other law enforcement or public safety agencies.
Scooters will be housed at the four bicycle compounds on campus, south of the Welcome Center, adjacent to Guy West Bridge, north of Benicia Hall and at the corner of Sinclair Road and Moraga Way. Spin also plans to launch 50 additional scooters around Sacramento, including the 65th Street light rail station.
A Wednesday safety demonstration on campus, which includes a helmet giveaway, will go from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 4:00 AM.