The days of students driving their scooters "door-to-door" on campus are coming to a close.
When students return for classes this fall, they will discover that the auto-free zone of campus, which is marked off by gates during the day to minimize traffic, will be off-limits to motorcycles and scooters as well as personal vehicles.
Ron Fuller, assistant director of UF's Transportation and Parking Services, said the decision to block scooters from the busiest part of campus was mostly to protect pedestrian traffic.
Despite increased decal rates and the push outside of the auto-free zone, Fuller said scooters are still the best set of motor-powered wheels a student could drive on campus.
"It's not going to be all this door-to-door stuff that they've had in the past," Fuller said.
There are nearly 170 spaces in the four scooter parking lots within the zone, including areas on the Peabody service drive, the south end zone of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, outside Dauer Hall and outside the infirmary.
However, about 270 spots will be available outside of the zone, he said, which will actually create about 100 more parking spots for motorcycles and scooters.
More spots will be added outside Weil Hall, which is across from Gator Corner Dining Center, and in the Museum Road garage across from the
University Police Department. New parking areas will also be added on Newell Drive by Library West and south of Tigert Hall on Stadium Road, he said.
"We're talking about 1,000 feet, 300 feet here, two blocks here," he said. "Since we're adding more than they had, we just don't see it as that big of a shift."
RTS buses and service vehicles will still be allowed to enter and exit the restricted part of campus. Scooter parking along Inner Road is also unaffected by the change.
Fuller said a recent survey showed that students on scooters don't just park in one spot for the day but make multiple trips throughout campus at their convenience.
"It's used like a bicycle," he said.
There are no plans to designate the spaces located in the auto-free zones for other vehicles, mainly because they are in awkward locations only suitable for scooters, he said. Students can still use the scooter spaces after 4:30 p.m., he said.
Fuller said the penalty for driving a scooter in the zone during restricted hours could amount to a $50 fine this fall, up from $35 last year.
"It wouldn't really be worth their while," Fuller said.
