Talk of a bike-sharing program began at Mississippi State University as part of a solution to Mississippi”s expanding obesity rate, but the final product is only one part of the evolving “master plan.”
Parking Services Coordinator for MSU Mike Harris credits former Student Association president Braxton Coombs and interim president Vance Watson with the initial plans to create a bike program on campus. Coombs and Watson were troubled by an article citing Mississippi as one of the most obese states in the nation.
He says, they thought it would be a good way to get more people on campus exercising, but at the time it was just a thought that needed to be developed.
Soon after the idea was conceived, a committee formed and the project was under way. Designing, trade marking and delivery of the bikes took about a year and in January the first 100 bikes arrived. Harris placed them in areas with highest amounts of foot traffic and the students took it from there.
“We couldn”t keep them out fast enough for everyone,” said Harris. “Students were trying to keep the bikes inside their dorm rooms and bathrooms for personal use because there was such a demand for the bikes.”
Harris says students should avoid getting attached to any particular bike because it”s not likely that it will be right where it was left.
“At first people were getting upset that the bike they rode to class wouldn”t be there when class was over, but after a while they figured it out,” he said.
Aside from clearing the terms of the Bike Share Program, the department has not had many problems with missing bikes. During summer intercession the bikes were rounded up for routine maintenance checks, and 92 of the original 100 were still on campus.
Because the share program was so well received, Parking Services ordered an additional 100 bikes to place on campus. The bikes were delivered on Monday and according to Harris the department plans to start distributing those throughout campus sometime next week.
Harris says the new bikes are a sturdier version of the first bikes.
“We learned from our first experience and decided the bikes needed adjustable seats, steel pedals instead of the plastic kind, and baskets for people to put their books in,” said Harris.
The Bike Share Program is part of a master plan to make MSU a more pedestrian-friendly campus. With less and less parking near the center of campus, the need for bikes to travel from one class to the next is increasing.
MSU Staff Assistant Elizabeth Pickle says her student workers sometimes use the Bike Share Program when rushing to and from class and work.
“Using the bikes is a big help when they are trying to cross campus in a short amount of time, and it helps them get where they need to go on time,” she said.
Harris says the next step, involves adding a parking garage to the campus. The garage will produce approximately 1,200 parking spaces close the central areas of campus and is intended to ease daily congestion.
“A parking garage has been talked about for a long time,” he said. “We are finally moving it to the front burner and turning up the heat.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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