Western freshman Noah Griffin rides his scooter across campus. Griffin also rides his scooter in downtown Bellingham. — Photo by Carey Rose

Two-wheeled metal scooters are coming back and can be seen around Western’s campus and downtown Bellingham.

Western senior Holden Turner, who rides his scooter to class, said Western's campus is scooter-friendly. He said the campus is not covered with many hills, and this makes it easy to get from one place to another in a short amount of time.

Western freshman Kurina Hoppen said she found her scooter in her garage during the summer so she brought it to Bellingham to  use on campus.

“I really didn’t start using it weekly until this summer,” she said. “Me and my friends had a little scooter gang going on.”  

Hoppen said she thinks scooters are making a comeback because they are compact and easier to manage than a bike.

Western freshman Noah Griffin said he thought scooters provided a functional mode of transportation. In addition to riding his scooter on campus, Griffin rides his scooter downtown.

“It’s really nice if you want to go downtown and you don’t want to wait for the bus,” he said.

Turner said the two disadvantages he has noticed about riding a scooter around campus have been difficulty in riding after it has rained and riding over big cracks in the brick. Riding over cracks can cause the scooter's wheel to get stuck, thus flinging the rider off.  

Western junior Lillian Furlong said she doesn’t ride a scooter because she thinks traveling through campus by scooter takes the same amount of time as traveling by foot. She said she does not have a problem with them as long as they do not get in her way.

All three riders have received similar reactions from pedestrians who have passed.  

“I never got negative reactions,” Hoppen said. “They were mostly positive [reactions] or people didn’t care.”

Turner said some people have made comments about liking his scooter when he scoots by them.

Winters in Bellingham have a tendency to be rather rainy, so many scooter riders may have to wait before they can experience a ride through campus. But as soon as the sun starts shining, keep an eye out for even more scooters.

Share this article:
                                   

Be first to comment on this article

Only registered users can post comments.
Please login or register.