Note: This letter originally appeared as an email sent to the Hopkins community on September 27, 2021.
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff:
With the rise in popularity of shared motorized scooters—and their wide availability in Baltimore and Washington—as well as the continuing use of bicycles of all types, we are asking our students, faculty, and staff to follow some simple rules to ensure our campuses are safe for everyone.
A Johns Hopkins policy developed with feedback from more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students prohibits riding motorized devices on campus sidewalks but allows them on campus roadways where other vehicles regularly travel. If you use a scooter or other personal motorized transportation device, please keep it off campus walkways and away from pedestrians.
The Johns Hopkins policy applies to all motorized personal transport devices, except mobility aids such as wheelchairs and mobility scooters needed by students, patients, visitors, and staff with disabilities. Also excluded from this prohibition are vehicles and devices owned by JHU and JHH, such as Segways, motorized carts, and other equipment, that are used by staff in the performance of their duties, and motor vehicles that are registered with the state.
In addition, do not leave an unattended scooter or bike where it will block a building entrance, pathway, ramp, curb cut, or accessible route for individuals with disabilities. For the Homewood campus, the university has identified 17 areas where you can park a scooter before continuing your campus travel on foot. A map is available on the JHU Transportation Services website. Bikes should be locked to available bike racks, not to hand rails or other items that need to be clear to be useful.
Please be aware that the university has worked with the scooter companies to set up a perimeter—also marked on the map—within which rentable scooters will stop working.
Please also note that Baltimore City laws do not allow scooters to be ridden on sidewalks except on streets where the speed limit is 30 mph or greater. Scooter and bicycle users are reminded to always ride slowly, carefully, and courteously on city sidewalks.
We appreciate your attention to Johns Hopkins policies and your support in creating a safe, pedestrian-friendly environment on our campuses.
Johns Hopkins Public Safety
Johns Hopkins Transportation Services