The Student Government is going green and keeping AU students healthy with a new bike-lending program on campus, according to Bike-Lending Director Carol Foster.
The bike-lending program currently consists of six bikes located in lockers near the South side shuttle stop under the Anderson bridge, according to Foster. Bike rentals are free for AU students and include a saddlebag, a helmet, a lock and a light. Students can rent a bike by signing up on the AUTO Web site at au.agilefleet.com and filling out a liability waiver. Students can take the bikes anywhere they want as long as the bike is returned in six hours.
Foster said if students break or damage a bike, they will have to pay a fine and will be barred from future use of the bikes until they pay the fine. If the bike breaks in a way that is not directly the fault of the student — if the bike gets a flat tire, for instance — the student would not have to pay a fine and the program would pay for the damages, according to Foster.
Students would, however, have to pay a fine if their bike gets stolen.
“I bought the strongest locks possible for the bikes — it would be highly unlikely for someone to be able to cut the lock in the six-hour time frame given to renters,” Foster said. “So if a bike gets stolen, we would assume that the student never used the lock in the first place.”
The bike-lending program was originally started by former Student Government President Seth Cutter as a project for his School of Public Affairs Leadership Program when he was a freshman. Cutter worked with other students in the program over the course of the 2006-2007 school year. In spring 2007, they had a trial run of the bike-lending program. The bike-lending program got a positive reception from students and the program was adopted into the AUTO division last year.
Over 200 students have participated in the bike-lending program this semester, and 40 students are in the process of signing up for a bike-lending account.
Foster said that it took a while for the bike-lending program to get to where it is today because there was some confusion about who would be in charge of the program.
“It originally started out as a project for a class, so once the students were finished with the class it became a matter of who would take over this great idea,” Foster said. “Someone had to come in and keep it going, and it got picked up by the Student Government last year.”
Foster is working with Comptroller Alan Chang and the rest of the AUTO division to expand the bike-lending program in the near future. Foster is trying to get two more bikes for the program, to bring the total up to eight rentable bikes, by the end of the 2009-2010 school year. Foster is also working to get bikes for the North side of campus, though she does not have specifics yet regarding when this would happen.
Foster said that she thinks the program is a great asset to AU because it helps AU students be environmentally friendly and healthy.
“[The bike-lending program] takes on a bunch of important issues, like the environment, dependence on oil and our health — and makes one big solution for all these problems,” Foster said. “Sustainable initiatives ensure a cleaner, healthier and less oil dependent future for humanity.”
Foster hopes the bike-lending program can expand and become one of the leading green initiatives on campus.
“I hope that the AU program serves as a model for Americans around the country to adopt sustainable habits,” Foster said.
Student Government president Andy MacCracken said that he supports the bike-lending program and is confident in Foster’s efforts for the bike-lending program.
Carol Foster, our current Bike-Lending Director, has done a fantastic job so far,” MacCracken said. “She spends countless hours every week, filling in holes in the program so it can support student demand. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.”
You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.
