Group hopes survey leads to fewer electric scooters in local rivers

EAST LANSING — An environmental group is circulating a survey about scooters dumped in local rivers, and it hopes to share the results with government officials in an effort to clean up Michigan rivers.

"So they have a better understanding as to thoughts and opinions of others, so they can respond and plan accordingly," said Mike Stout, president and founder of Michigan Waterways Stewards, in a press release. "The retrieval of scooters from our rivers is an act of last resort. It is most costly and is certainly most dangerous."

He also hopes to launch, in the next few weeks, a campaign that would encourage public safety announcements, signage and cameras, fines and citations as well as river clean-up efforts.

The efforts come after magnet fishers, with the organization's support, pulled more than 100 e-scooters from the Red Cedar River at Michigan State University's campus in July.

Michigan State University spokesman Mark Bullion said in an Aug. 18 email that only one scooter was lost in the river during 2023, "likely due to the mitigation procedures that Spin implemented."

"The 100+ scooters that had been recovered were from the 2022 operating season," he said.

E-scooters typically have lithium batteries, which can catch fire if they come into contact with water and otherwise contaminate the river, which feeds into the Grand River in Lansing after it leaves campus.

Stout said he hopes to survey up to 100 people to understand what they think about e-scooters. His 12-question survey is available at miwaterwaysstewards.org and asks people what should be done about the scooters.

Stout launched his organization last year to deal with metal and debris in rivers and the discovery this summer of e-scooters under a single on-campus bridge has led to an increased focus on the scooters in water.

The scooters pulled from the river have primarily been Spin company scooters. The company has an exclusive contract with MSU.

Spin has told the State Journal that it has taken preventative steps, including a digital geofence around the Bogue Street bridge. The geofence means that rides cannot end on the bridge, reducing the chances of someone tossing the scooters into the river.

Spin officials did not respond to a request to confirm how many of their scooters were lost.

Contact Mike Ellis at [email protected] or 517-267-0415