SOA adds more e-scooters on campus

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Bhubaneswar: Travelling within the campus or going around the city has become easier for students of SOA Deemed to be University with introduction of a fleet of e-scooters for their use.

“One hundred e-scooters are presently in use in the campus of Institute of Technical Education and Research (ITER), SOA’s faculty of engineering and technology, which are being extensively used by the students,” Ankur B. Patel, co-founder and CEO of driEV, a start-up specialising in electric ride-sharing in the city, said.

Patel, himself an alumnus of SOA, said 20 e-scooters were introduced on the university’s campus-2 on Thursday, for use of the students.

An MoU was signed with the university for the purpose. The students would be required to pay 70 paise per km besides 40 paise per minute for hiring the vehicle, he said adding the number of e-scooters in the new campus would be increased depending on demand.

The e-scooters were introduced in the campus in the presence of SOA’s vice-president, Saswati Das, deans of different institutions and senior officials.

Students said the availability of the e-scooters on the campus made it easier for them to travel. The different campuses had recharging facility.
Patel said the vehicles clocked more than 3,000 km daily with around 120 EV rides booked daily. The facility would be extended to other institutions under SOA, he added.

Prof. Pradip Kumar Sahu, Dean of ITER, Prof. Anup Kumar Samantaray, Dean of Institute of Business and Computer Studies, Prof. Neeta Mohanty, Dean of Institute of Dental Sciences and Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students’ Welfare) were present.