When researching, I was pleased to find a nation-wide spread of the bike share movement. Already, many college campuses have implemented successful bike share programs. I was extremely happy to find that not only are a lot of these programs successful, but also encouraged when I learned more about their start-up phases. Currently, UC Berkeley, Lesley University, Bates College, and University of Nebraska Omaha are only four of the many colleges with bike sharing programs. All currently have successful bike programs or are initiating a pilot on campus. UC Berkeley is equipped with only four bikes, Lesley: nine bikes, Bates: ten bikes, and University of Nebraska Omaha: eight bikes. I was both extremely shocked and relieved after learning about the few number of bikes in such successful programs! Knowing that there are probably at least four abandoned bikes on campus that can be used for our bike sharing project, I have regained certainty that a pilot plan at Oxy maybe very possible in the near future.
While reading about the history of bike sharing at other campuses, I also learned that resources to start up this movement isn't too demanding. Lesley University was able to create its pilot through donations of bikes, abandoned bikes, and one bake sale raising $200. Through this small demand, again, I am now assured that we can really get a great start to a bike sharing program at Oxy!
As for the next steps of initiating bike sharing is actually accumulating bikes and determining a system for rentals. Depending on the number of bikes we can get, we may want to pitch donations to companies. I also think that we need to gain support and awareness of our efforts for this project--maybe try to locate bike experts on campus that would be interested in helping. Does anyone know of anyone who would be interested or of help? Any other ideas that will help get moving on this project?
If the Oxy administration is truly behind the solar array and willing to put up $5 million from the endownment, I don't see why it shouldn't be willing to invest substantial money into a legitimate and effective bike share program. Instead, we are facing the challenge of writing a proposal for a mere $1000 for start-up costs. Why can't Oxy be like the University of New England, who offers free use a nice bike to every student who pledges not to bring their car with them to college. This wouldn't only further raise public relations efforts in making Oxy seem more progressive (as the solar project hopefully will), but would allow more students to explore the local neighborhoods and cultural centers - a characteristic of the college that the admissions department uses as a selling point for Oxy. A wide-spread, and well-financed, bike share program could also create more on-campus jobs for students. Bottom line: Financial support for a bike share program could speed this effort up tremendously and save many years of trial and error.
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