Collegiate Bicycle will supply 100 bicycles to be placed around the grounds of Mississippi State University for students to borrow as they trek across campus.
Associate dean of students Thomas Bourgeois said the bicycles have been ordered and are expected to arrive at the end of the fall semester.
“We hope the bikes will be here in late October or in November,” Bourgeois said. “We will have an official unveiling and a roll-out of the program at that point.”
Vice president for student affairs Bill Kibler said the bicycles may be used by anyone to get around campus.
“The program is primarily targeted towards students, but if a faculty member or a staff member wants to hop on one of the bikes and ride it to another part of campus they are welcome to do that as well,” he said.
Bourgeois said the bicycles will be placed at different places around campus.
“We’re going to test [locations] in the beginning,” he said. “[At first,] it’s going to be a place-and-learn [system].”
Bourgeois said university officials will use students’ feedback to help adjust bike pick-up and drop-off locations.
Phone numbers will be used to inform university officials to the whereabouts of the bicycles and to assist stranded bikers.
“If they’re lost or if a tire goes flat, students can call and say ‘Hey, this bike’ s tire is flat,'” Bourgeios said. “If someone rides one all the way out to the band hall we at least say, ‘Hey, I rode one out to the band hall yesterday, someone needs to come pick it up.'”
Student Association President Braxton Coombs said the bicycles will be fixed-gear bikes.
“It’s as basic as it gets,” he said. “It should work out just fine for students riding from building to building.”
Coombs said MSU interim President Vance Watson approached him with the idea during the spring semester.
“Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea so I brought that back to Dr. Watson and he wanted to get started right away,” Coombs said.
Kibler said Mississippi State’s Honor Code will be emphasized when the program launches.
“If somebody steals or vandalizes one of these bicycles then that just removes a bicycle from the program that others won’t have an opportunity to use,” he said. “The whole idea of doing a program like this is you don’t lock them up so they are available for people to use.”
Bourgeois said GPS chips are being looked at in case of theft.
“We haven’t decided yet how we’re going to work that out,” Bourgeois said. “That’s something we’ll do on an after market-basis.”
He said the bicycles will cost about $200 each and will be funded by parking services.
MSU’s Interim President Vance Watson said the bicycles will help the environment and students.
“The bicycles are an attempt to raise the awareness of green initiatives that show that we are aware of our environment and the importance of preserving its quality as much as we can,” hatson said. “Also, they should raise the level of awareness concerning the need for physical fitness since we as a state don’t fare too well in that area.”
MSU Police Chief Georgia Lindley said cyclists should practice safe biking tips while riding, such as wearing bright clothing if they bike at night.
“Be careful to not ride the bicycles on sidewalks due to the heavy amount of pedestrian traffic that we have,” she said. “Everybody should be mindful that they are sharing the road with cars and safety needs to be a top concern.”
Bourgeois said safety tips will be issued as part of this bicycle campaign.
“We strongly encourage any student who rides a bike to wear a helmet,” Bourgeois said. “[Students] can get a helmet from parking services if they want to borrow one during the day when they ride the bikes.”
Senior industrial technology major Paul Hartsell said although the program shows that MSU’s administration is thinking about the well-being of students, he fears the program will not be as successful as possible.
“They’re trying to help us get from place to place and to help us be healthy instead of driving around campus to class, but I just see this ending badly,” Hartsell said. “No matter how many bikes you buy, some of them if not all of them eventually will end up missing.”