BALLARO: Scooter deal sold out New Brunswick, again
Column: 'Round About Town
As reported by The Daily Targum, Rutgers Department of Transportation Services has partnered with VeoRide to bring electric scooters (e-scooters) to campus. These are supposedly a remedy for overcrowded buses, but students have to pay to play if they want to get class on time.
“You couldn’t get on the bus and you needed to get somewhere quickly. There’s a scooter right there,” said Jack Molenaar, senior director of Rutgers Transportation Services, according to the Targum. “You’re like, ‘OK, this is going to cost me a little money, but I’m going to get on that, and I’ll get to where I go faster.’”
Something is not right here.
With the implementation of paid scooters at Rutgers to get to class on time, what does that say about us?
Why should students pay up if they cannot make it to class on time? Scooters are not a solution to Rutgers’ disorganized public transit system. Instead, they are a tacit approval of the status quo.
A year later, and once again, I am writing about the privatization of Rutgers transportation, we have somehow taken a step back.
While demanding for a “bus abolition” was pretty tongue in cheek, is it far of a stretch to say e-scooters are a menace?
We inadvertently normalize unreasonable expectations of punctuality. It is not out of the question to imagine someone who is late to class because they just got off their shift from the second job they have and there was no bus who could get this student to class on time. People are doing their best.
Showing up late to class is not a moral failing. There are myriad reasons why people show up for class at the time they do, whether that be a massive hangover or a turnpike pile up. Rutgers transportation should not be one of them.
It is confusing to me why we even have establishments like the Rutgers University Student Assembly when it amasses so much funding and power, only to spend on setting us back. On Feb. 13, the Assembly passed a resolution S20 - 04 to endorse VeoRide and approve contract negotiations.
“RUSA has made history with projects such as … bringing e-scooters to campus (enjoy the rides),” according to Nicholas LaBelle's, School of Arts and Sciences senior and president of the Assembly, Instagram post.
RUSA has made history selling New Brunswick residents and Rutgers students down the river.
I get it from a publicity stand point. There is a reason getting high or drunk on scooters has been a popular pastime for students currently riding out the pandemic in New Brunswick.
But scooters just are not safe. A 2019 study by the Austin Public Health Department calculated that 20 individuals are injured per 100,000 rides on dockless electric scooters.
There have already been a few injuries on e-scooters at Rutgers, yet according to Molenaar, we are only averaging five rides per day.
They claim their scooters have a reduced carbon footprint, but they do not account for the carbon emissions created during manufacturing. Scooters like these are not built to last much longer than two to five years, and when you have examples of broken scooters in the first few months of implementation, the potential environmental impacts are troubling.
Most puzzling, you can pay VeoRide to get "woke." You can give money to another corporation to participate in a “Juneteenth Community Ride” or table for an LBGTQ+ pride parade.
Why does riding an electric scooter down Easton Avenue have anything to do with celebrating the freedom of the slaves in this country that was fought for hundreds of years in blood and bodies?
VeoRide is yet another company profiting off of its performative wokeness, all the while gentrifying the streets of New Brunswick.
Residents of New Brunswick pay their taxes and students of Rutgers pay their tuition to be respected by the people they vote into power, not to be undermined in yet another scheme to cut corners.
Whatever money, time and attention went to securing a contract with VeoRide needed to be directed towards improving public transit, not profiting off of it.
We never needed e-scooters. We need safe, equitable and free public transportation that benefits all the residents of New Brunswick, not just the ones who can afford it.
Anthony Ballaro is a School of Arts and Sciences senior majoring in classics and public health. His column, "Round About Town," runs on alternate Thursdays.
*Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
YOUR VOICE|The Daily Targum welcomes submissions from all readers. Due to space limitations in our print newspaper, letters to the editor must not exceed 900 words. Guest columns and commentaries must be between 700 and 900 words. All authors must include their name, phone number, class year and college affiliation or department to be considered for publication. Please submit via email to oped@dailytargum.com by 4 p.m. to be considered for the following day's publication. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
