Students at UNC, Duke University and N.C. State University now have the opportunity to rent scooters through a new startup called Carolina Scoots, a business founded and managed by UNC senior Brent Armstrong.
“I had a lot of friends that had scooters my freshman year, and they bought the cheap, unreliable ones, and they were really unhappy with them,” Armstrong said. “So kind of where I started was ‘Okay, what’s the good stuff?’ And the good stuff was the Honda and the Yamaha.”
He took out a loan from his father and bought scooters he could rent out to his friends.
Renting is simple, he said. Students can contact him through email, his website or by phone. He estimated students pay about $500 per semester.
“You tell me which type of model, which scooter you want, you tell me where you want it delivered, and I deliver it to you and charge ... no extra cost,” Armstrong said.
He also provides his renters with a helmet, locks, security cable, license plates and registration. He said next year all the scooters will also be insured.
“(You get) access to backup scooters in case you can’t start your scooter or it breaks down or anything like that, and I think that’s the biggest thing that people pay for,” he said. “If you rent a scooter from me, you basically ensure that you’re always going to have a ride.”
Randy Young, spokesperson for the UNC Department of Public Safety, said he has seen the number of scooters and mopeds on campus rise in recent years to the hundreds. He said this is likely due to their cost effectiveness and the ease of parking them compared to cars.
“A few years ago we saw a large increase,” Young said. “I think it’s just continued to be an option recognized by more and more students and faculty.”
