To further the university’s environmentally friendly efforts, UF is working to establish a student bike-sharing program.
UF offers departmental bike-sharing, but it is only available to faculty and employees. Student Government is researching effective programs that can be for students on campus, said Andrew Giacini, SG’s chief of staff.
“The program is still in the backstage of planning but could be something we see in a few years,” said the 20-year-old UF economics junior.
An SG poll asked students if a bike-sharing program was something they wanted, and many responded with a yes, Giacini said.
“My personal goal is to have the program implemented in about three years,” he said.
The departmental program started in 2011 and has 50 bikes for all the departments on campus, said Stephanie Sims, implementation coordinator for UF’s Office of Sustainability. The bikes are refurbished from abandoned property on campus, she said.
Other schools with bike-sharing programs have been evaluated in order to see if the programs could fit the needs of a large campus with so many students, Giacini said.
“Having the option to rent out a bike would be very convenient, and plus, I would get my workout in for the day,” said Abby Yull, a 20-year-old UF political science junior.
SG wants the program to be accessible to students in all departments, Giacini said.
“There are differences between classroom buildings, gym on campus, living areas and major departments like Shands that we want to cover,” Giacini said.
Once the student bike-sharing is in place, long-term checkouts could allow students to rent out a bike for a semester and not have to worry about checking it back in anytime soon, Sims said.
A version of this story ran on page 5 on 11/7/2013 under the headline "Bike-sharing program could let UF students rent wheels"
