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MCKELDIN MALL – University of Maryland students and community members who routinely travel around campus on foot have begun organized efforts to take up too much space on sidewalks in order to protest the prevalence of micromobility vehicles taking up too much space on sidewalks.

These obstructions are being arranged on the paved pathways on McKeldin Mall and the sidewalks on all major roads of campus by small, tight-knit groups of participants. Their goals are to dissuade the operators of electric scooters, bicycles, and similar transportation implements from traveling on sidewalks, which has nearly caused multiple collision-related injuries. Using micromobility vehicles on sidewalks is strictly forbidden by campus authorities one day per month so all police officers can make their ticketing quotas.

By assembling in large formations on pathways and walking forward with no regard for anything or anyone in front of them, the pedestrian community hopes to leave micromobility users with no room nor means to “hog” pathways and recklessly speed in close proximity to those on foot. A Hare reporter approached a group on the eastern paths of the McKeldin Mall to give them a chance to share their perspective.

“Did she really?! Oh my goosssshhhh!” freshman Letters and Sciences student Imina Klique exclaimed to her three horizontally-arranged friends while ignoring the query. “No, I told her, and then she said, ‘Girl, what you say?’ I swear!” All four shared a screeching laugh while bumping into two other pedestrians heading in the opposite direction with no regard for their presence at any point.

Due to the often dangerous behavior of certain micromobility users, demand for stricter enforcement of laws pertaining to micromobility has increased within both campus administration and the general UMD community. Since the early Spring 2024 semester, the University’s Department of Transportation Services has arranged occasional enforcement days where the majority of their attention to detail is expended, reminding bicycle and scooter riders to adhere to regulations such as observing stop signs and remaining off of sidewalks unless dismounted. DOTS did not respond to the Hare’s request for comment as they presumably had their fingers too far up their nostrils to answer the phones.

Negative sentiment against electric scooter owners in particular has been on a sharp increase since this fall semester began and has manifested in many other ways, including threats made online. Arthurs L. Finsert, a part-time dumpster diver who works in the College Park area and has frequently witnessed instances of this animosity, offered his opinion: “Some of you are posting literal fantasies of violence and demonstrating you have even less emotional maturity than the grade school children who come to UMD on field trips.”