College students often do not have the time, space, or the money to maintain a car, so many students opt for buying electric scooters or electric bikes instead for traversing campus. These electric vehicles are small, affordable, and able to be picked up and kept inside a dorm. However,  Liberty University’s Head of Safety board does not allow the charging of electric scooters anywhere on campus due to the risk of fire, in which case the construction of several outdoor public charging stations should be considered.

     Charging stations for small electric vehicles such as skateboards and scooters are incredibly affordable, and do not take up a lot of space; some charging stations are hardly even a station at all, but look more like an outlet. There are all kinds of different charging stations, and the price increases if you want to charge your vehicles faster. For a 220 volt charger that hooks up to the wall and has a long charging wire, kind of like a gas pump, the cost is $300 to $550. For a larger charging station dedicated to E-bikes only, the cost is closer to $1,500 for a single station. This model gives you more security as well as a locker for keeping the rider’s belongings safe while they wait for their bike. Some companies, such as SwiftMile, are experimenting with solar-powered charging stations for cities, allowing citizens to charge their vehicles at no cost to the city, as the station would be paid for by ads. There are also charging stations that have an appearance of a bike rack, except with outlets for electric vehicles; expect these to range from $1,000 to $2,000, depending on the brand, how many outlets are available, and how much power is being directed to each outlet. These, as well as the wall stations, are arguably the most practical kind of charging station, as they give the most space for the price, and can be easily constructed nearly anywhere on college campus. 

     Electricity is incredibly cheap. To charge the average electric scooter from empty to full, plugged into a house outlet in Virginia, it costs a little more than 5 cents. If the scooter is already half charged or ¾ charged, which is much more likely, the cost will be even less. Of course, there will be exceptions for scooters or bikes that have dual batteries or stronger, more powerful batteries. These kinds of vehicles will most likely cost 10 or so cents for a complete charge. To find out how much this will cost the university, a bit of math is needed. If a bike rack style station is installed, assume it can hold 10 electric vehicles. Each vehicle will remain in the station for around 2-8 hours, depending on the vehicle, its charge level, and the schedule of the student. Assume the average and imagine a powerful E-bike is charging at every spot, for 4 hours a day; this means that, if you start at 6am, about 4 E-Bikes can use a spot per day. If there are 10 spots available in in a rack, then a total of 40 E-Bikes can use a station per day. If each E-Bike costs 10 cents to charge, then the total cost of the station in terms of electricity would be $4.00 per day. This estimate is on the high end; most students own skateboards and small electric scooters, of which the cost is much lower to charge. It is also not likely that every spot in the station will be full at all times from 6am to 10pm, or that every vehicle is starting at 0% battery. More than likely, the cost of electricity for a station will be closer to $2.00 per day.

     There are many areas on campus that would work very nicely for a bike rack style station. Next to Convocation, on the side towards the library, there is a great section of empty wall that is currently not being used for anything, and is bare. By East Campus, there are several massive bike racks at the base of the stairs, near the road, always full of bikes and scooters; this would be a great place to install a station for the electric versions. The base of the stairs towards Freedom Tower already has an area where the Bird E-Scooter charging station used to be; a station could be installed here. 

      Many students came to campus with a brand new electric bike or scooter they purposefully bought for college, only to find out they are not allowed to charge them anywhere on campus. If a student do not have family nearby, or a car to take their electric scooter or bike to a coffee shop or somewhere where charging is allowed, that student’s vehicle has now been made completely useless, and is now a burden on them until they can sell or otherwise get rid of their vehicle. Many students do not have a car at all, and need a way to get to their classes or to the local Walmart, but cannot buy an electric scooter or bike due to the lack of charging available. 

      Providing easier ways for electric scooters and bikes to charge will also lower noise pollution, traffic, and increase parking spots for new students, parents, visitors, CFAW students, and overall lowering the amount of cars on campus’s roads, as the need for cars will lower dramatically. Transport Reviews explains that if even just 25% of car trips were replaced by electric scooters, parking spaces would noticeably clear up (Kailai, 22). This will free up the ridiculous traffic jam that occurs around 4pm - 6pm every day, sometimes backing up all the way to the first roundabout. Electric scooters and bikes tend to also be very reliable, and rarely break or require maintenance. Students will have an opportunity to have a much more reliable, cheaper form of transport. While Transport Reviews is referencing more of a shared E-Scooter system, their research still applies: “ Launching shared e-scooter programmes can be a way to increase access to mobility to those without car access or not well-served by public transit; however, effective strategies for a full integration need certain attention.” (Kailai, 21).

      With everything, there are drawbacks. An estimated five bike rack stations around campus would be plenty as a starting point. If the bike rack style station is chosen for all five, this would be around $7,500; however, if three of those stations are instead the gas pump style stations, the cost for one is only $500. This would cut down the total cost to about $4,500, as well as cutting down on space needed to install a station. For installing five charging stations on campus, this is surprisingly very affordable for what it is. That price would be a one-time purchase and almost never need to be replaced, as there is not much on a station to break; it may require a new outlet or plug as the connection gets weak, but these are affordable repairs. With Liberty being a Christian campus, it is also not likely the station will be vandalized or destroyed by rowdy students.

      Liberty claims that the reason charging is not allowed is due to a fire risk, but these fires are not nearly as often as they are made out to be, and tend to be very easily preventable. Overcharging, charging in extreme temperatures, and abuse of the battery are some of the top reasons for fires and overheating. By using a public outdoor charging station, the station can automatically shut off power once max battery power has been detected in the vehicle, and notify the owner that their vehicle is ready. The stations can be locked up and put away during the extreme summer and winter conditions to prevent battery overheating and damage due to cold. Abuse of the battery, or use of a cheap, poorly made Lithium battery, cannot be prevented by anyone except the owner of the vehicle; however, a fire from this reason is quite uncommon. The owner would have had to purchase a battery or electric vehicle from a source such as China where their battery protective cover is twice as thin, making it cheaper but more likely to overheat, or they would have to build their own scooter and do it incorrectly. College students are not known for having the drive or the time to begin a project as intense as building their own scooter, and while some of them may order cheaper vehicles from bad sources, more than likely they will choose an American brand with a fast shipping time. Even if a fire starts at a station, there is no risk of any fire damage except to the scooter and the station. No buildings or people will be involved or at risk.

      If these stations are installed, there will inevitably be more electric scooters and bikes on campus, which means more crashes and injuries from students falling off their scooters, getting hit by cars, or colliding with pedestrians. The average speed for a electric vehicle is usually topped off at 20 or 25mph in manufacturing due to laws revolving around small electric vehicles. This allows the vehicle to keep up with traffic around campus; however, cruising on walkways and colliding with a person at that speed is quite detrimental. According to Journal of Safety Research, most electric scooter crashes do not involve other vehicles or people, but instead “Loss of control related to infrastructure was the most frequent precipitating factor for both crashes and near crash conflicts, accounting for nearly half of all SCEs.” (Elizabeth, 186). However, many college students at Liberty have experience with scooters zipping past them with barely enough room to pass, or even causing foot and ankle injuries due to collisions. While nearly every electric scooter or bike has a lower speed and acceleration mode - usually listed as Econ Mode, topping off the max speed at 12mph for navigating congested areas and to prolong battery life - it is probable most students riding will not want to switch to these settings. The Journal of Safety Research goes on to explain that reckless behavior on a scooter led to an almost 10% increase of an accident or near-accident (Elizabeth, 189). While that number may seem slightly low, injuries can be severe.

      According to the Bulletin of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, between Janurary 2020 to December 2020, there were 202 E-Scooter hospitalizations; 69% involved either upper or lower extremities, and the rest were orbital or skull injuries; only one death was reported (Winter, 190). The article continues and explains that in those same 202 reported crashes, “No other party was involved in 87% of cases. A quarter (24%) of patients needed emergency surgery while 16% were immediately hospitalised, with a mean length of stay of 5.9 days.” (Winter, 190). This may seem severe, but keep in mind the average age in the study by Bulletin of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, the average group were men between 18-35, with most accidents taking place above 15mph (190). However, keep in mind there were only 202 crashes requiring hospitalization in one full year; this means there were only about 16 crashes per month that year. Of those crashes requiring hospitalization, 60% were very minor accidents. In summary, it is typically only young adult men who are speeding or behaving recklessly who cause the most severe cases, and majority of the time only injure themselves by crashing into immobile objects, rather than vehicles or people. 

      Overall, the risk of students injuring themselves does exist, but as with everything there is risk. Most electric scooters cannot speed to begin with in order to comply with local laws, and unless the electronics are purposefully tampered with, they will always top off at 20 to 25 mph. Scooters are designed to be very stable and safe at their designed max speed, with excellent snappy brakes, lights, and suspension. This proposal is a very affordable project with great benefit to the school and its students. Car activity, traffic, and noise pollution will be reduced, and students will have access to a reliable, fun, and cheap mode of transport. The cost of purchasing charging stations would be small, one-time price to invest in, with very little drawback or chance of backfire, as there are already many electric scooters and bikes on campus that would use them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

White, Elizabeth, et al. “What Factors Contribute to E-Scooter Crashes: A First Look Using a Naturalistic Riding Approach.” Journal of Safety Research, vol. 85, June 2023, pp. 182–91. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2023.02.002

Winter, G. “Electric Scooter and Electric Bike Injuries.” Bulletin of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, vol. 106, no. 4, June 2024, pp. 188–90. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1308/rcsbull.2024.71

Wang, Kailai, et al. “What Travel Modes Do Shared E-Scooters Displace? A Review of Recent Research Findings.” Transport Reviews, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan. 2023, pp. 5–31. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2021.2015639