Bully Bikes have been on the Mississippi State University campus since the fall of 2008; however, this past year the policy began requiring students to go through a rental process to acquire the bikes.
According to Raleigh Richter, senior parking services officer, Bully Bikes were first brought to MSU’s campus to encourage students to exercise more and to bring a readily-available mode of transportation to campus.
“It was a promotion toward a healthier form of transportation on the university campus,” said Richter. “It also cut down on traffic congestion and promoted a healthier environment by cutting down on vehicle fumes.”
The policy in the past was  the bikes could be picked up anywhere on campus, driven to a desired location, then left for others to use. The bikes were not allowed to be locked up so anyone could use them.
Mike Harris, director of Parking, Transit and University Services, said one major flaw in the previous policy was it was difficult to perform proper inspections of the bikes and they would be often in poor condition.
“With anyone using them at any time there was not any way to keep up with maintenance. There was not anyone accountable for the bikes so they were, at times, abused,” Harris said.
Students are also excited about the new policy as they now feel like the bikes will be in better condition and more accessible for use.
Will L’Estrange, sophomore marketing major, said he thinks the new policy will encourage responsibility.
“I think the new policy will make them more available to students,” he said. “Less would be stolen and since students will be forced to be more responsible, they will break and disappear less often.”
Under the new policy, the bikes can be rented from the Parking Services office in the Roberts building. Students need only to present a student ID, complete a waiver form and provide their own security lock or cable.
Richter said parking services is still looking for ways to improve the Bully Bike system.
“In the spring semester of 2013, we will be adding 100 more bikes to the Bicycle Share Program fleet,” Richter said.
Harris said there are many other benefits of this new program for students using a bike as well as for people driving cars.
“Students have the benefit of using a bike for free while they are here as well as someone taking care of the maintenance. It helps parking and transit, because if one uses a bike then they are not driving around campus which helps with traffic flow and parking,” said Harris.