To cut driving time between University buildings and enhance campus life, Murray State administrators said they hope to bring community bicycles to its campus in spring 2009.
Through the project, University administrators and representatives from the Student Government Association said they expect to provide bikes for circulation among students for their commutes around campus.
Don Robertson, vice president for Student Affairs, said a program designed to provide Murray State students with bikes for trips across campus would likely start with less than one dozen bicycles for student use.
To designate the bicycles available for campus use and prevent theft, Robertson said those behind the project plan to paint the bikes bright blue or yellow.
"The risky part of the project would be the idea of people riding bikes off campus and stealing the bikes, which is why we would paint the bikes blue or gold to help them stand out," Robertson said. "But the program would be an honor system where you take a bike and just leave it for the next person to keep circulating it around campus."
If the University purchased new bikes, Robertson said the expected cost of the program would, at most, slightly top $500.
In other situations, Robertson said the University could utilize abandoned bikes collected around campus or request bicycle dealers to make public bicycle donations. Robertson said the possible contributions to campus life far outweigh any potential cost.
"We would probably start out with about 10 or 12 bikes to see if the program could meet some need or be another way of enhancing the campus," Robertson said. "I've talked to Wal-Mart, and it seemed you could get a basic bike for not much more than $50. You don't want to waste money, but in the worst case scenario, we would try it and two weeks later, every bike would be gone."
After receiving student feedback about a program that has seen success at outside campuses, Kara Mantooth, president of the SGA, said she presented the idea of public bicycles to Robertson as a potential addition to campus life at Murray State.
"The way I look at it, this is kind of a win-win situation," Mantooth said. "It gets students to places faster, provides students with exercise and cuts down on the amount of driving around campus, which helps the environment."
Compared to the present situation in which students rely on automobiles for quick travel around campus, Mantooth said the bicycle program could improve student mobility.
"I know students that drive their cars to the Curris Center, park, go in, eat, drive to Alexander, park, go in, drive back to the Curris Center and are just driving a lot during the day," Mantooth said. "Those involved in this project would like to eliminate that. We hope to encourage students to drive their cars to campus and leave them parked until they leave that day."
Clayton Vertrees can be reached at james.vertrees@murraystate.edu.
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