Scooters may have place on UA campus

With gas prices keeping steady at more than $3 a gallon in November, students' finances may also continue to feel increased pressure.

George Latham, however, said he may have something to help.

Latham, owner of the newly founded T-Town Motorsports, said scooters and electric motor-powered bicycles are good alternatives to cars for college students.

"They're a good, safe, reliable mode of transportation," he said. "They're inexpensive to operate, and they pretty much pay for themselves."

Latham said every scooter in his shop gets between 60 and 100 miles-per-gallon of gas. Also, Latham said, everything he sells has an automatic transmission.

T-Town Motorsports opened Nov. 12, the Monday before Thanksgiving. It's on the corner of Hackberry Lane and 15th Street in the Parkview Shopping Center.

Jonathan Lanctot, a sophomore majoring in engineering, said he owns a Honda Metropolitan scooter and uses it around Tuscaloosa. Lanctot said he is from Illinios and doesn't go home that often, so the scooter works for getting around campus and around town, he said.

Lanctot said his scooter gets over 100 miles-per-gallon, and he has spent less than $10 on gas since he bought it over the summer.

"I use my scooter to get around campus really quickly," Lanctot said. "I never have to worry about gas prices or mileage. Not to mention, it's just fun to ride."

Lanctot said scooters may be a good option for college students, since many of the things students need are on or near campus.

He also said, however, they may not work for everyone.

Latham said there were no other scooter specific shops in the west Alabama area. He said his shop carries three lines of scooters, with some being more expensive and road sturdy,while others are cheaper and better options for on-campus riding.

The most expensive scooter in the shop costs around $7,000, and the cheapest runs about $3,200.

UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said that as of now, students riding scooters on campus can park them at bike racks as long as they aren't blocking sidewalks or entrance ways. She also said, however, that if scooters start becoming popular, a more scooter-specific system may be put in place for them.

Samantha Mroczynski, a senior majoring in chemistry, said she thinks the UA campus may not be the place for scooter riders.

"I'd feel uncomfortable riding a scooter around campus," she said. "Right now our campus doesn't really have a place for scooters to be roaming around. I mean, I can really see them causing accidents. On the roads they would confuse people and cut through traffic, and I'd be afraid a scooter would just take me out when I was walking across the Quad."

Mroczynski said students riding scooters would probably be out of place on campus, and she said she doesn't see scooters catching on.

"If they had some type of way or some type of rules for them on campus that would be fine," she said. "But as it stands right now there isn't anything, and [scooter riders] would probably be taking advantage of that."

Kristin Rogers, a senior majoring in chemistry, said scooters may be an option that could help students with expenses.

Rogers said she used to live nearly 30 minutes off of campus, and she drove an SUV.

"I couldn't ride a bike, it would have been too far," she said. "A scooter would have saved gas, and if more people had them on campus it might be better for traffic on campus and everything. I mean, gas prices aren't going down much anytime soon, but it may take a good while for students to start wanting to replace their cars with them."

Latham said his store also carries electric-powered bicycles that can travel up to 20 miles without being peddled. The motors can be charged on a standard outlet.

"I'm looking forward to working with students and trying to get more people riding scooters," Latham said. "They really are a great thing for college students to have and in a lot of ways are tailor-made for them."