A map of the moped parking locations on campus, effective fall 2017. Photo courtesy of MSUPD.
MSU students have publicly voiced their dismay for the fall 2017 moped parking permit implementation. The change blindsided students as many utilize mopeds to avoid having to tackle parking and payment obstacles.
Moped registration has always been required, but wasn’t well-known or complied with, Tim Potter, Sustainable Transportation Manager and All University Traffic and Transportation sub-committee member, said.
“In fact, it used to be much higher,” Potter said.
“Mopeds that are over 100CC are considered a motorcycle under state law and must be parked in a motor vehicle space,” according to the MSU police student permit website.
Those mopeds are currently required to be registered with the MSU Parking Office, which costs $127 for on-campus students and $103 for off-campus students.
The $50 price tag on permits will cost students half of what they were previously paying.
Potter sat on the sub-committee of the AUTTC that spent time researching the dangers of driving mopeds on campus and in East Lansing.
In 2015, 20 moped crashes took place within 5,000 feet of the intersection of Wilson Road and Farm Lane, according to a Michigan Traffic Crash Facts report. The 2015 crashes represent 27 percent of the total amount of crashes, which totals 74.
In the city of East Lansing, 95 moped crashes occurred during a 12-year period of time, according to the Michigan Traffic Crash Facts report.
The All University Traffic and Transportation Committee, where Sarah Nicholls serves as chair, made the recommendations to the MSU police chief in August 2016 to increase safety of everyone on campus.
“This is really, at the end of the day, all about keeping all of us, whoever we are — faculty, staff, students, visitors — and however we use campus — foot, bike, moped, motorbike — (safe)," Nicholls said. "We really want to keep everybody as safe as possible."
Although the different modes of transportation on campus have been a point of discussion for the committee for years, mopeds made their way into the conversation more than a year ago, she said.
"There’s a place for every mode of transportation and motorized vehicles (and) pedestrian sidewalks is not one of them," Nicholls said.
She acknowledged the committee was expecting the initial "shock" in reaction people have voiced, but said the shift to permit-only moped parking was for the good of the whole.
"Hopefully, by shifting the parking, we can therefore also help to solve this issue of mopeds in places where they really shouldn’t be," she said.
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