Bicycles and Personal Electric Vehicles Policy: Your Feedback Matters
Since October 2024, UND has operated under an interim policy regulating the on-campus use of bicycles and personal electric vehicles (PEVs)—including e-scooters, e-skateboards, e-bikes, and hoverboards. This interim policy prohibits the use, storage, and charging of PEVs in all campus buildings and residences due to significant fire safety concerns related to lithium-ion batteries.
In April 2025, UND released a draft policy that proposed an even stricter measure: a full ban on personally owned PEVs anywhere on university property. During a two-week comment period, the campus community shared thoughtful feedback, highlighting both support for safety and the need for mobility options. Taking that input into account, UND has revised the proposed policy to strike a more balanced approach—permitting the use of personally owned PEVs on campus while maintaining prohibitions on indoor use, storage, and charging.
A newly revised draft of the policy has now been posted for additional campus feedback. We invite the UND community to review the latest version and share comments before the policy is finalized.
What’s New and Important to Know
Effective August 1, 2025, the revised policy includes the following key provisions:
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Use Is Allowed with Rules: Personally owned bicycles and PEVs such as e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, and hoverboards are allowed on campus—but must be operated safely and in compliance with university policy and local laws.
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Charging Is Strictly Prohibited: No PEV or PEV battery may be charged on campus—regardless of size or battery type. This is in direct response to fire risks posed by lithium-ion batteries.
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Indoor Storage Is Prohibited: Storing bicycles, PEVs, or batteries in any university-owned or -leased building is not allowed. A limited exception is made for non-motorized bicycles in residence halls and apartments.
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Register Your Device: All bicycles and PEVs must be registered with UND’s Department of Public Safety. Registration is free.
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Park Responsibly: Bicycles and PEVs must be locked only to designated racks (at least 20 feet from buildings) and not to trees, handrails, signs, etc. Parking in a way that blocks access for others is also prohibited.
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Violations Come with Penalties:
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First indoor use, storage or charging offense: $250 fine and impoundment.
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Subsequent violations: $500 fine, impoundment, and potential campus ban.
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Abandonment: impoundment.
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UND may impound any bicycle or PEV found violating the policy without prior notice. Retrieval requires photo ID, verification of ownership, registration, and payment of citations.
Why This Policy Matters
The primary driver of this policy is safety. Lithium-ion batteries—common in PEVs—pose a significant fire hazard when stored or charged improperly. These fires are fast, hot, and potentially explosive, threatening lives and causing serious property damage. By prohibiting the indoor use, storage, and charging of PEVs and enforcing clear rules—with penalties such as fines, impoundment, and potential bans—UND aims to reduce risk, prevent disruption, and ensure responsible use of personal mobility devices across campus.
Seeking Your Input
This policy is the result of months of analysis, input, and careful planning. It reflects UND’s commitment to keeping the campus safe, accessible, and functional for everyone. However, UND recognizes the importance of your feedback before implementation. The campus community is encouraged to review the policy and share their thoughts during the two-week campus comment period.
The feedback period will be open June 11-24. During this time, submit your comments and suggestions online. Feedback will be considered before finalizing the policy.
Comments
How will bikes be registered? Other universities actually issue stickers that are attached to the bike. I am in support of this as long as we have sufficient time to meet the policy change, and are made aware of it. Adding more bike racks is certainly a needed addition. Since changes to O’Kelly, Gillette and Education buildings, the number of bike spaces/racks has been greatly reduced.
Thank you for your comment and support. Bikes will be registered using a QR code sticker system. We understand the importance of allowing sufficient time for the campus community to comply with this change, and we are committed to ensuring that everyone is well-informed and given ample time to complete the registration process.
Regarding bike racks, we recognize the concerns about reduced capacity. A review of bike rack availability and placement is currently underway in collaboration with our safety and facilities teams to address these issues and identify areas for improvement. Your feedback is greatly appreciated as we work to make biking on campus more convenient and accessible.
“Indoor Storage Is Prohibited: Storing bicycles, PEVs, or batteries in any university-owned or -leased building is not allowed. A limited exception is made for non-motorized bicycles in residence halls and apartments.”
Exceptions should also be made for staff and faculty who have space to store non-motorized bicycles in their offices. No safe, secure storage is available to shelter bicycles from harmful weather conditions.
Thank you for your comment and for raising this important point. While the prohibition on storing bicycles in university-owned or -leased buildings has been part of the bicycle policy for several years, we acknowledge that it may not have been consistently enforced in the past.
It’s unlikely exceptions will be made for staff or faculty to store non-motorized bicycles in their offices. The current policy is being implemented more consistently across campus to support safety, accessibility, and fire code compliance.
Your feedback is appreciated as we work toward long-term improvements for campus bicyclists and will keep your concerns about secure, weather-protected storage options in mind.
Outdoor bicycle storage that is safe, secure, and protects from harmful weather exposure is non-existent on UND campus. Meanwhile, safe, secure, and weather protected areas abound in offices all across campus, whether they are in closed-door personal offices, unused cubicle spaces, or designated storage areas in offices.
A policy the restricts bicycle parking only to outdoor, weather exposed spaces impedes UNDs commitment to wellness and accessibility, and is disrespectful to those who wish to commute to work by bicycle but do not wish to expose their equipment to harmful weather and less-than-secure bicycle racks. It is not difficult to steal a locked bicycle from a rack.
Thank you for your comment and for sharing your concerns. While we understand the challenges related to outdoor bicycle storage, the prohibition on storing bicycles in university-owned or -leased buildings has been part of the bicycle policy for several years. We acknowledge that enforcement may have varied in the past, but the policy is now being applied more consistently across campus to support safety, accessibility, and compliance with fire codes.
It’s unlikely exceptions will be made to store non-motorized bicycles inside offices, cubicle spaces, or other indoor areas. Although we recognize that some indoor spaces may appear suitable, UND’s current policy does not permit indoor storage in any administrative or academic building.
Your feedback is appreciated as we work toward long-term improvements for campus bicyclists and will keep your concerns about secure, weather-protected storage options in mind. In the meantime, we strongly recommend the use of high-quality U-locks for securing bicycles, as they offer better protection against theft compared to cable locks. UPD is in the process of identifying more locations for security cameras as well.
Adding weather-protected bike racks would be fantastic! There might be space in the parking ramp for example. Installing security cameras in these areas seems ideal as well.
I appreciate the policy update and believe that implementing fines is an effective strategy to reduce indoor parking and charging of PEVs. Thank you so much!!
Thank you for the work in updating this policy from the previous draft. The registration system seems straightforward and an excellent compromise on ensuring campus safety while encouraging wellness.