By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Bowling Green State University already has its Starship robots roaming campus and beyond to deliver food.
Now, a couple recent graduates want to add another dimension to BGSU’s tech transportation profile – electric scooters to help people navigate campus and the community.
“I would just say Bowling Green and our university are moving in a more technologically advanced direction,” said Shakir Blackett, one of the partners in Meridian Rentals. “With Starship robots delivering food autonomously, we feel like this is the next best step for the university.”
The company plans to have a fleet of 50 scooters available for rent by next spring.
Blackett and Seth Crosby both graduated from BGSU this May – Blackett in aviation engineering technology and Crosby in supply chain management.
The project has been in the works for more than a year, delayed as was the case with so much by the pandemic. “I would say it was character building to put it nicely,” Blackett said.
“Being on campus, being surrounded and immersed, we were able to see the needs of students,” he said of the inception of Meridian Rentals. They saw micro-mobility making a foothold on other campuses and in other municipalities – New York City just licensed three firms to offer the service.
They wondered: “Why isn’t it here at our school? That’s why we decided to take on this initiative and try to get it done at Bowling Green State University.”
They did research and acquired two prototype bikes and recruited people to take test runs around campus.
They’ve continued doing research and testing for the past year. “We want to make sure this product is fully safe when we release it to the public.”
Blackett said the response has been enthusiastic. “Students have volunteered to test them because they really want to see this happen on campus.” And faculty members as well as some students have donated money to help defray the early costs. BRAVE – Black Rights, Activism, Visibility, Equity – steered Meridian to the city officials they needed to consult. “They are really providing us with the support we really needed especially as a small business.”
Blackett said they’ve already contacted city officials and have received support. There are apparently no city ordinances to block scooters in the city.
Meridian has decided on using scooters from a private manufacturer based in China. The high tech features of the scooters were the attraction. They have full GPS and geospatial capabilities. This is necessary, Blackett said, to keep the scooters within those places on campus and off where they are allowed to go, as well as control their speed.
Blackett and Crosby have launched an online petition to get BGSU to support the project. “What we’re currently working is brokering a deal with the university so we will be able to operate on campus,” he said.
The petition makes the case for the project: “Having scooters on campus will provide affordable transportation to and from parking lots on campus like LOT 12 and ease traffic and parking congestion on campus. Lastly, electric scooters are just fun to use, imagine having these during the summer!”
