After several years of planning, a program allowing students to rent bicycles has taken off at Missouri State University. The Green Bike Program, developed by the Residence Hall Association and funded partially by Student Government Association’s Sustainability Commission, was officially launched at Missouri State University in the spring of 2011. The program allows students living on campus to rent bikes for a fraction of what it would cost to purchase a bike.
The program encourages students to reduce their carbon footprint by offering an environmentally friendly way to travel to off-campus destinations, such as nearby groceries stores or downtown attractions. The program also hopes to soon become self-sufficient, using the funds from bike rentals to cover the expenses related to upkeep and maintenance.
The Green Bike Program fleet currently consists of 31 bikes, with an average cost per bike of ten to fifteen dollars each semester. Bike rentals for the fall 2011 semester are currently slated to take place September 14th and 15th, from 9 am to 5 pm on the Bear Paw. While bikes are currently only offered to students living on-campus, the program hopes to have nearly 70 bikes next semester and go campus-wide in the spring of 2012.