Butler SGA members ride around on Bird scooters after they officially partnered with the company. Photos courtesy of Ava Coy.
JULIA VERES | STAFF REPORTER | jveres@butler.edu
For Butler students, electric scooters have become a common sight across the campus. Bird Scooter is an electric scooter company that allows riders to pay based on how long your ride is. On Monday, March 17, Butler’s Student Government Association (SGA) held a launch party announcing their official partnership with Bird scooters.
The partnership with Bird Scooters was an initiative led by Andrew Byrd, a senior finance major and SGA’s director of finances and facilities.
When SGA reached out to Bird in December, they found that there had been 11,000 rides from Butler in a three-month period, which Byrd described as “mind-blowing” and prompted SGA to move forward with the partnership.
“Essentially, what [the partnership] does is it gives 50% off rides to students, faculty and staff with a Butler email,” Byrd said. “It is a huge benefit because students have been paying out of pocket, and now — by just being a student — they get a discount.”
Electric scooters have become increasingly popular not just out in the world, but also on college campuses. These e-scooters hold appeal because of their sustainability impact and the mobility that they provide. To activate a scooter, the user needs to download the Bird app and scan the QR code on the scooter to pay for the ride.
As e-scooters have become more prevalent, where people leave them on campus has been a frequent complaint among students.
Marissa Gitzinger, a sophomore psychology and Spanish double major, occasionally uses Bird scooters but is bothered by where they are left on campus.
“People leave them in such inconvenient locations where you can trip over them, and it is really annoying,” Gitzinger said.
This is an issue that SGA aimed to address with the partnership.
Adelynn Harris, junior accounting major and manager of the finance and facilities board on SGA, explained how the new partnership will change how Bird scooters are parked.
“We are showing students that there are spots at every building [to park the scooters],” Harris said. “As it was explained to us, riders won’t be able to end their ride until they move it to a designated spot. It’s not anything that will make it hard on students, it will just help clean up the campus.”
SGA hopes that this partnership will make Bird more convenient and cost-effective for students, as well as ensuring that the scooters are not a bother to the campus and the community.
A former version of this article incorrectly spelled Ava Coy’s last name.
