Community Bike Programs: Reconsidering Transportation on a Changing Campus

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Community Bike Programs Reconsidering
Transportation on a Changing Campus

• G. Moss Driscoll
• Director of the Rhodes Community Bike Program

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• 100 acre campus in Midtown Memphis
• 1566 students
• 71 of students from outside of TN
• 76 of students live on campus
• Freshman class of 2008 largest in school history

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The Rhodes Vision

• Spring 2003
• Student InspirationTo provide a residential
  place of learning that inspires integrity and
  high achievement through its beauty, its emphasis
  on values, its Presbyterian history, and its
  heritage as a leader in the liberal arts and
  sciences.
• Improved facilities (Barrett Library, Briggs
  Student Center)
• Expanded recreational opportunities (club sports,
  intramurals)
• Higher quality of life (dining services, dorm
  rooms)

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A Growing CampusIncreased Student Demand for
Basic Services

• Insufficient parking
• Increased parking fines
• Students increasingly living off-campus (Woodmont
  Towers)
• Schedule changes
• Inability to expand parking spaces

Can a bike program address these needs?
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Memphis Recreational OpportunitiesTaking the
RCBP Beyond Campus Transportation

• Overton Park
• Shelby Farms
• Meeman-Shelby Forest
• V E Greenway

• Mississippi River Trail
• Mud Island Park
• Memphis Hightailers Club
• Mid-South Trails Association

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The ProposalRhodes Community Bike Program

• Two Parts to Success
• Campus Yellow Bikes
• Student, faculty, and staff on-campus use only
• Comprised of donated bikes (faculty and staff)
• Modified to be single gear only and painted
  yellow
• Fleet of fifteen to twenty bikes
• Yours-for-the-Year Bikes
• Students and parents rent bikes at the beginning
  of the school year for nominal cost (50)
• Accessories sold throughout the year at reduced
  cost
• Free repairs offered through the RCBP

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Current Status of the RCBP

• Obstacles
• Challenge of acquiring donated bikes
• On-campus storage limitations
• Time requirements
• Successes
• RCBP awarded SDE Grant
• RCBP website
• Planning Yours-for-the-Year Bikes
• Developing a student manual for future RCBP
  directors

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Taking the Program to Your Campus

• Is there demand for a bike program?
• Will it work on your campus?
• Campus size
• Security concerns
• Parking needs
• Off-campus bike opportunities
• How do you develop a sustainable program?
• How do you get students/community involved?
• What do you need?