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Spin’s collaboration with Michigan State University (MSU) has turned into a model success story on how to counteract vandalism as part of a shared micromobility program. In 2021 and 2022, the program was internally ranked in the 90th percentile for vandalism compared to other Spin services nationally. This was largely due to the issue of criminals and reckless individuals throwing scooters in local waterways rather than traditional vandalism per se. For good reason this issue raised significant environmental concerns and threatened the viability of the program. 

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Fortunately, Spin and MSU teamed up last year to put a stop to this illegal behavior. Strict No Park Zone geofences were implemented along local waterways and at all river crossings, effectively preventing users from ending their trips in the vicinity of rivers. We also implemented an immediate relocation policy for any scooters that came within 300 feet of waterways to proactively address this issue. Lastly, we reshaped our Service Area to eliminate any river crossings to further mitigate such vandalism

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More recently, our team members joined the Red Cedar River Stewardship & Recreation Committee’s yearly river cleanup, and we are currently working to sponsor Committee programming through purchases of equipment. We also developed a partnership with the Capitol Area Dive Team, working with them to retrieve five scooters from deeper parts of the river as part of their training operations. We’re happy to share that the Spin team recovered five scooters, which we believe to be among the last remaining devices in the Red Cedar River. Furthermore, this dive operation also led to the recovery of eight personal bicycles/e-scooters, numerous shopping carts, and a microwave. Why people would discard such items in public waterways and pollute their environment is difficult to understand. 

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What was once a program facing an existential vandalism threat has now turned into a model for protecting local waterways from e-scooter pollution nationally. Individuals throwing e-scooters and bikes in waterways is an issue across various micromobility programs, and the Spin team and MSU have developed a strong playbook for practical interventions that can prevent and mitigate this behavior.

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