Your Personal Wheels at MIT
The compact size of the Boston/Cambridge area makes bikes and scooters popular transportation options for students and employees. They are healthy, enjoyable, and so efficient that you’ll often reach your destination more quickly than you would in a car. MIT encourages these alternative modes of transportation and provides discounts, bike commuter benefits, and fix-it stations on campus for the MIT community.
If you’re riding something around on campus, those are your Personal Wheels (PW)
On the MIT campus, Personal Wheels are any non-medical transportation devices and vehicles, with or without motors and/or batteries, including bicycles, scooters, hoverboards, skateboards, unicycles, in-line skates, and other self-balancing personal transport mechanisms.
- MIT’s PW guidelines do not apply to wheeled devices and vehicles designed for and used by individuals with mobility-related disabilities or medical conditions.
- A motorized wheeled vehicle with a 50cc engine or larger (including many mopeds) qualifies as a motorcycle and is not a PW in this context.
Personal Wheels guidelines
MIT has established campus-wide guidelines to protect the safety and health of all community members by promoting the safe operation, parking, and storage of Personal Wheels on the MIT Cambridge campus. Anyone who intends to bring a PW onto campus must first review the guidelines detailed in these pages, and anyone who operates, parks, or stores a PW on campus must comply with the guidelines.
Register your PW
Operate your PW safely
Park and store your PW outdoors or at limited indoor locations
Adhere to MIT safety procedures when charging
Enjoy MIT’s bike commuting benefits and other campus services
Register your PW
Registration is required for all PWs with motors stored and/or charged on campus. We’re piloting this new registration process. If you are having difficulty confirming if your PW complies with the following requirements, contact the Parking & Transportation Office for assistance.
- To be registered, your motorized PW (and its charging cord as well as any separate battery) must be UL certified. More info.
- Register your PW online here with the MIT Parking & Transportation Office. Our team will verify your information and provide a registration sticker for your PW (must be picked up in person for motorized PWs).
- Registration of PWs without motors is recommended, as it can deter theft or facilitate the recovery of your PW if it is stolen. Registration of nonmotorized PWs also provides access to commuting benefits for qualifying commuters. Registration stickers for non-motorized PWs can be picked up or mailed to the owner.
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Operate your PW safely on campus
Look out for others and use common sense when riding a PW: Wear a helmet, have good brakes and lights, and keep your speed reasonable. Remember to use bike lanes. Do not endanger yourself or others, including both riders and pedestrians.
- No indoor operation. Do not operate any PW inside any Institute building or parking structure on campus at any time.
- Yield to pedestrians in every situation, including at crosswalks; they always have the right of way. Signal your turns and always provide audible warnings when passing pedestrians or other riders.
- Abide by regulations established by the state and the City of Cambridge – observe all speed limits, stop at red lights, and obey stop signs!
- Some (but not all) PWs are allowed on campus shuttles.
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Park or store your PW outdoors
MIT provides outdoor racks for parking and storing bicycles and other PWs that fit in these racks.
- Park and/or store your PW outside, preferably locked to a rack. Some racks are located under overhangs or in breezeways, including those outside Buildings 3, 26, and 39.
- Wherever you park your PW, avoid obstructing any building entrance or exit, sidewalk, alley, road, path, passageway, hall, stairway, etc.
- Don’t attach or leave your PW anywhere where it might damage campus artwork, landscaping, trees and/or plantings, or infrastructure (such as benches or railings).
- Don’t leave a PW where it might impede the movement of others or violate any other federal, state, or local regulations governing parking, fire, and safety.
- A heavy-duty U-lock is recommended.
Park or store your PW in your room or office (a limited exception)
PW operators are only authorized to park or store PWs indoors on MIT premises under the following conditions:
- A motorized PW and its charging equipment (including any separate battery and charging assembly) can only be stored or charged indoors if it is registered, UL certified, and stored in the owner’s residential room or personal office. Review all safety practices for motorized PWs (including charging procedures) here.
- Do not park a motorized PW in any MIT parking structure, or indoor PW/bike storage area of any kind.
- A non-motorized PW can only be parked or stored indoors if it is in the owner’s residential room or office, or in a bike/PW storage area.
- If your PW doesn’t have a motor or battery, check with your House Manager, Director of Administration and Finance, or Facilities Manager to learn if any additional appropriate storage facilities may be available to you.
- Note that the Parking & Transportation Office offers three secure PW storage areas for registered PWs without motors.
Always walk your PW indoors – and don’t leave it in a classroom or common area
Any time you bring your PW indoors, you must walk it and follow the most direct route to avoid impeding indoor pedestrian traffic.
- Do not leave any PW in a classroom, common area, group space, or public space in any building at any time (such as a lounge, hallway, dining area, lab, entryway or lobby, stairwell, etc.), even temporarily.
- Improperly parked PWs are subject to removal by the MIT Police and/or a representative from the Parking & Transportation Office. MIT (including MIT Police and the Parking & Transportation Office) is not responsible for any alleged damage to or missing accessories/equipment from an impounded PW.
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Adhere strictly to required MIT safety procedures when charging
PW charging is not allowed on the MIT campus with the exception of UL-certified PWs that are registered with the Parking & Transportation Office and are only charged in accordance with MIT’s required safety precautions.
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Enjoy MIT’s bike commuting benefits and other campus services
- Full-time benefits-eligible MIT employees who register their bicycle and use it to commute to work are eligible to apply for reimbursement of bicycle-related expenses. Review the full details of the MIT Bicycle Commuter Reimbursement Program.
- On-campus MIT employees are also eligible for a subsidized annual Bluebikes membership for $50.75 (regularly $129). Sign up or renew here.
- DAPER offers a discounted limited-access membership for PW commuters who want to shower after arriving at MIT.
- Bicycle commuters can use the eight fix-it stations on campus to help maintain their bikes and keep them safe.
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MIT's Bicycle Commuter Email List
To receive and share news or tips related to bicycle commuting at MIT, join the MIT Bike Moira email list.
- Sign up by emailing the our office and specifying your request to join the MIT Bike email list.
- To unsubscribe from the MIT Bike Moira email list, go to your Moira subscription list and click "Remove Me."
Questions? Check out the info for motorized PWs and the PW FAQ page.
Any PW that is operated, parked, stored, or charging in an unsafe manner in disregard of MIT’s guidelines is subject to removal by the MIT Police and/or a representative from the Parking & Transportation Office. MIT (including MIT Police and the Parking & Transportation Office) is not responsible for any alleged damage to or missing accessories/equipment from an impounded PW.
The Institute reserves the right to further limit or prohibit the use of Personal Wheels to preserve the safety of the MIT community. Note that owners of PWs that cause damage to Institute and/or community members’ property may be held responsible for such damages.
