You don’t have to buy a bike to ride a bike, at least not during May Days on campus.
The environmentally aware bike-sharing program will be available in Denver this summer and will be coming to campus for a trial during May Days before kiosks are permanently set up on campus and throughout the city.
Denver tried a free bike-sharing demo during the Democratic National Convention last August and due to positive response decided to launch the Denver B-Cycle, a program letting anyone rent a bike for a fee, at an available kiosk and return it at any other kiosk. Forty to 50 kiosks will be installed this summer throughout Denver. All kiosks will be solar powered and wireless.
The project will start out with 500 bikes, with the idea that the project will expand every year.
The rental fee may be daily, monthly, semi-annually or annually. For DU students it may also be similar to the way the RTD pass works.
“Bike sharing was something we really wanted to do,” said senior Zoee Turrill, vice chair of the AUSA Senate Sustainability Committee.
Turrill pointed out that there are many potential positives in a bike-sharing program, including fewer cars on the city’s streets and a reduction in car exhaust emissions.
She mentioned how convenient it would be for a student to rent a bike to ride from one side of campus to the other or rent a bike to ride over to Safeway and not have to walk.
A kiosk will be located near the residence halls on the south side of campus. Another kiosk will be near the light rail station on the north side of campus.
This program “makes it feasible for people who haven’t ridden a bike since they were 12 to start,” said Turrill. The user will not have to maintain the bike, fix the tire when it pops or worry about any other issues.
The bikes will be user friendly. They will have automatic gearshift, three to four speeds, a big basket at the front and will use a cruiser- style frame. “We want to encourage bike use. Wouldn’t it be great to check out a bike and ride to Washington Park on a ridiculously sunny day like we have so often in Denver?” said Turrill. Denver will be one of the first cities to start a bike-sharing program. “This can become an iconic thing for the city of Denver,” said Turrill.
