Trash trucks, mini-trucks and an eyeball truck at the University of Minnesota, but few EVs

The fall semester at the University of Minnesota kicked off a few weeks ago and I was once again reminded of how the university is like a little city to itself. From my office window on the West Bank, I have the privilege of watching not just the deluge of students, but the constant preparations of the thousands of university workers who maintain the streets, shrubs and public spaces.

I want to confess one small fascination: the variety of vehicles that the university sends around campus. There seems to be no end to it, from golf carts to 60-foot buses. After years of prevarication, I finally reached out to ask about their fleet. Is it complicated? How do they pick vehicles? 

Here’s what I learned.

The university has a lot of vehicles, including for their own police department, their own transit agency and even their own jurisdiction over some streets. There’s a lot going on and it is complicated.

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