E-scooters from Beam Mobility are now available for use in 9 university campuses across Malaysia. In a bid to encourage car-free journeys among young Malaysians, Beam Mobility has partnered with several Malaysian universities to make its e-scooters available on campuses.
Through the keen interest from faculty members and the support by URBANICE Malaysia, Beam is now available in:
- Universiti Sains Malaysia Penang (USM)
- Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Perak
- Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Terengganu
- Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sabah
- International University of Malaya-Wales (IUMW)
- EduCity Iskandar
- Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur
- Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS)
- Universiti Malaysia Pahang
Beam at UiTM Perak
According to Beam, over 1,000 rides daily are being completed across the various Malaysian universities daily and more universities are expected to adopt Beam e-scooters this year. With the availability of Beam’s e-scooters, residents, students, and teachers are able to easily hop on and off an e-scooter to travel between faculty buildings, lecture halls, sports and leisure facilities, and residential suites.
Beam at USM Penang
“We aim to reduce the consumption of space taken up by cars by having more e-scooters on the ground, and strategically placing them in places that are convenient and accessible. E-scooters take up way less parking space than cars, and that allows us to tackle the issue of limited car-park spaces within the campus,” said Justin Tiew, General Manager of Beam Mobility Malaysia.
With Beam’s shared e-scooters placed at key locations in and around these campuses, students can ride anywhere safely in minutes, without having to start a car or seek parking spaces. Moreover, the pay-as-you-go rate is at an affordable rate of RM0.60 per minute, and is a more cost-effective transport mode for students in the short and long term.
At EduCity Iskandar, Asia’s first multi-campus education city, Beam e-scooters are actively used by students from 9 different universities across its 305-acre campus, easily connecting people to the integrated shared facilities such as the EduCity Sports Complex, an innovative social and coworking space (EduCity Hub), start-up incubation space (FastSpace), and student accommodation buildings (EduCity Village). While this greatly improves student mobility, the usage of e-scooter also reduces on-campus car dependency and carbon emissions.
“Beam’s presence aligns with SDG efforts as an education city that supports green technology initiatives. We hope that with this new offering, our community can enjoy the ecosystem and ideal campus lifestyle that EduCity offers,” said Prof. Dr Sakina Sofia Baharom, Director of Operations for EduCity Iskandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd.
The EduCity Iskandar campus is one of Beam’s growing partnerships with Malaysian universities, and the introduction of the company’s e-scooters on campus was met with great excitement and positivity among their respective students, who were very eager to use them for their commutes across their sprawling campuses.
Beam at UTM KL
Additionally, since December 2022, Beam was made implementation partner for the Sandbox of Sustainable Micromobility Integration and Innovation, a year-long collaboration between Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Kuala Lumpur (UTM KL), Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), and URBANICE Malaysia. This partnership explores sustainable mobility innovations towards low carbon cities and the integration of public transport to support first and last mile connectivity.
The introduction of Beam’s shared e-scooters in universities is an example of the micromobility service provider’s efforts to alleviate some of the pressures of car ownership on students and young adults.
However, taking public transport can be challenging and time consuming. First and last mile connectivity leaves much to be desired, and with most Malaysians living more than a 30-minute walk from the nearest convenient public transport connection, many default to cars for its ability to take them most of the way, in the same amount of time.
Beam’s e-scooters therefore are able to fill these connectivity gaps with ease, turning 30-minute walks into 5 to 10-minute e-scooter rides, and help to significantly reduce commute times when using public transport. Responses from Beam’s public survey indicate that Malaysians are willing adopters of shared e-scooters, with 76% of 670 car-commuting Malaysians saying they would “definitely” or “probably” switch to a combination of e-scooters and public transportation if they had access to them. More encouragingly, 26% of respondents from this group added that they “currently own a car, but would be more likely to sell it”, if shared e-scooters were readily available.
Keyword: Beam E-scooters Are Now In 9 University Campuses Across Malaysia