Forget car sharing, University of Washington to provide electric bikes
If even the thought of the emissions from a shared hybrid car makes your skin crawl, than the University of Washington campus may be the place for you. Beginning in the fall of 2008 the school will offer a vehicle sharing service on campus. However, unlike the cars and crossovers typically offered by services like ZipCar and FlexCar, U-W will be setting up electric bicycles. Four stations will be set up across campus with a total of forty electric bicycles that can be used in a manner similar to programs in Paris and other European cities. A still undetermined fee will be paid by students and staff who want to participate in the program. When participants need to get somewhere, they can grab a bike from one of the charging stations and return it when they're finished. The bikes themselves will have a twenty-five mile range on a full charge.[Source: Seattle Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Orin O'Neill 3:22PM (11/27/2007)
When I was about 10 years old, my parents and I walked through the UDub campus, and it was full of bicycles. Back in the late 60s, that was how college students got around.
So now, they're going to supply *electric* bicycles, the most retarded transportation device ever created by humankind. Show everyone how green you are by *increasing* the demand for electricity. Yeah! The UW campus is not that big... you could, I dunno, WALK?
Like the ill-advised attempt at shared bicycles in Portland, Oregon about 10 years ago, I have a feeling all of the electric bicycles will disappear in short order...
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Hansel Ong 7:24PM (12/21/2007)
From the link provided above:
"Forty bikes — which can be pedaled or ridden as electric scooters — will be spread across campus and available to be checked out. Each bike can go 25 miles on a charged battery, more if it's pedaled. And the bikes won't be restricted to campus."
As a full-time staff (and part-time student) at UW, I can't think offhand what I'd use the bikes for. To a big extent, it'll depend on the placement of the bikes, how easy to borrow/return, and how expensive the service is.
Bicycling is still the main mode of transportation in campus next to walking. However, for destinations within campus itself I think most people just walk since, like you said, it's not that big (once you get used to it). Besides there are "bike-walk" zones "which means that bikes are to be walked when pedestrians are present" (http://www.washington.edu/commuterservices/get_to_uw/employees/bike_safe.php#dismount).
I think the target of these electric bikes will be to encourage more people to take the bus to campus with the peace of mind of knowing that there are available transportation options if they need to travel outside campus (hence "they likely will be on the edges of campus").
I'm a Flexcar member and use their service from time to time. It's nice, but limited as there are very few vehicles on campus proper. The UW also have a UCar program but that's for departmental use and is paid using budget numbers (i.e. no "casual" use). I'm curious about this new electric bike service and am interested to see how useful it will be.
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