Blue Duck Scooters removed a fleet of electric scooters from Southwestern University in Georgetown about three hours after dropping them off Monday morning after university police told the company the devices were not allowed on campus.

The company, based in San Antonio, is the first dockless scooter operator to attempt a launch in Georgetown.

Similar companies operate in Austin, where city officials grappled this spring with questions over how dockless scooters should be regulated.

Eric Bell, founder and president of Blue Duck Scooters, said he was disappointed his company had to withdraw from Southwestern but added Blue Duck intends to return its service to Georgetown and will speak with officials from the university and the city, as well as residents and other stakeholders, on how to best move forward.

“The fact of the matter is electric scooters are going to be in Georgetown,” Bell said.

Southwestern Police Chief Brad Dunn said Blue Duck dropped off its scooters without first contacting the university to see if they were permitted on campus, which is privately owned. Dunn said chief concerns with the scooters included users’ safety as well as increased traffic on campus roads and walkways.

“They didn’t have any prior conversation with us,” Dunn said.

Bell said his company placed about 75 scooters at Southwestern on Monday. Although the company voluntarily removed its scooters three hours later, Bell said the immediate response from users was “overwhelmingly positive.”

Blue Duck’s scooters function similarly to others in the market. Users download a mobile app to locate nearby Blue Duck scooters and pay $1 to activate them. Users are then charged 15 cents per minute of use, and scooters can be parked at users’ destinations.