The Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) has approved a $199,000 investment to launch a bike share system on the Eugene campus. The system will be initially launched with four rental stations and 40 bikes and it will be managed by the UO Bike Program.
UO Bike Program Coordinator Ted Sweeney says the bike share system will help get more people riding, “Without the individual ownership costs and hassles of maintenance, storage, and fear of theft.”
The system will consist of rental hubs located strategically throughout UO’s 295 acre campus. Also, thanks to a partnership between the ASUO, Lane Transit District, and the City of Eugene, the bike share system could eventually expand beyond campus. LTD and the City have applied for a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant that would expand the system to 10 rental stations and 100 bikes covering campus and locations in Eugene’s downtown core.
UO Bike Program project coordinator Briana Orr sees bike share as a perfect complement to the maturing bike infrastructure being provided by the campus. “Bike share is another great tool we have to increase bicycle ridership, and has been shown to be a game-changer in urban environments,” she says.
The UO campus has 6,000 bike parking spaces (some of it covered), a fully signed and marked network of bike lanes, bike maps, and bike lockers.