In the past few years, the number of skateboarders and bike riders on campus has increased. A&T has decided to embrace the increase of skaterboarders and bikers.
Auxiliary services has proposed the Bike Chair Program which will allow students to rent bikes at their leisure, free of charge, using their Aggie OneCards.
“As of now we want to look into getting two hub stations,” said Shami Chimonyo, Project Manager of Auxiliary Services. “One on the McNair side of campus and the other near Craig [Hall] and the union.”
The hub stations will be self-serve, automated systems and will only require a swipe.
Using Aggie One Cards will ensure that bikes are being rented to students and faculty members only.
“We want to be able to link the student to the bike they have and link their account information,” Chimonyo explained.
Danae McNair sophomore child development, early education and family studies major believes that there should be more locations on campus, “I think it will be more successful than they think,” she said.
There will be 20 to 30 fashion forward bikes available for students to use when the bikes debut in the coming semesters.
The bikes will have an updated version of traditional bike baskets, allowing easy transportation of books and [book] bags with elastic straps.
Students can rent the bikes at any time during every semester as they can endure any weather conditions. They also have lights that flash in the front and back as safety precautions.
The bike rentals will be an alternative to riding the shuttle and struggling to find parking.
It is estimated that a 10 minute walk across campus would be reduced to three minutes with the use of the bikes.
“It’s going to reduce campus traffic and air pollution by providing sustainable transportation,” said Chimonyo.
Brittany Rush, a senior psychology major believes the program is a good idea.
“There will be less people on the shuttle and it won’t be as crowded,” she said.
“But it will be a slight disadvantage without a bicycle lane because there are already a lot of people on the sidewalks.”
The Canadian imported bikes are popular throughout France and the Netherlands.
The bikes have three gears and will probably sport the school colors with “Aggies” or the logo embedded on them.
Sponsors and companies may also be able to advertise on the bikes.
Funding for this program is still being negotiated. But will probably come from the transportation or shuttle fees included in tuition.
Chimonyo ensures that fees will not impact students as much as buying a personal bike would.
But the program is not finalized yet, auxiliary services is looking for feedback.
Students can give their feedback on the proposed bike rental program on their twitter page @ncatauxiliary.
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Bottom: The A&T rental bikes come equipped with elastic straps to easily transport book and book bags.
Photos by Christopher Martin–The A&T Register
- Dashawn Fleming, Register Reporter