University of Washington to Create Electric Bike Share Program
by Andrew Posner, Rhode Island, USA on 12. 3.07
The success of bike share programs in Europe has been phenomenal, and there is increasing talk of bringing them across the pond to our more car-oriented country. Now comes news that the University of Washington is teaming up with Intrago to create an electric bike share program for its Seattle campus. The self-rental bicycles will work much like traditional bike share programs: users are given a special pass to unlock bicycles from stations located throughout campus, and then return them just as easily. The only difference between this system and a more conventional one is that the bikes have an electric assist for hills and longer distances, circumventing one of the more common excuses for not riding a bike. It is unclear what kind of battery the bicycles make use of.
The goal of the project is to encourage people to use alternative forms of transportation to get to school by providing them with a convenient way to get around the large campus. A convenient co-benefit will be a quieter, safer campus, with reduced congestion and lowered costs. The pilot system is being funded by a grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation in the hope that "corporate campuses, vacation destinations and high-density urban and public transit locations" will see the value of these systems.
Via: ::Enmediawire.com, and ::Intrago
See Also: ::Avanti Electra Electric Bike, ::Solar Powered Electric Bicycle. Now We're Talking, ::Ride like the Sun: Electrobike-Solar Electric Bicycle , and ::World's First Electric Bike Rally: Open to All
I think this is awesome if the bikes are cleanly produced. I cannot even get the executives of my student council to consider a large bike share program
I really like this idea especially for a large campus.
I was surprised that Tulsa, Oklahoma has a bicycle sharing program.
http://www.tulsa-townies.com/default.aspx
Thats good news about our local University of Washington, I'll curious to see how the program works. I think that our local Western Washington University up here in Bellingham, WA should look into this as well. WWU already is on board campus wide for using green power. This would just be another great addition to going green.
Thanks guys for posting this article and what a great idea.
Thats good news about our local University of Washington, I'll curious to see how the program works. I think that our local Western Washington University up here in Bellingham, WA should look into this as well. WWU already is on board campus wide for using green power. This would just be another great addition to going green.
Thanks guys for posting this article and what a great idea.
During my college days there was a kind of non-sanctioned bike sharing program. If someone ever "lost" their bike, it was sure to be found on the other end of campus.