Vanderbilt the Possible
Imagining a Sustainable Campus
Where We Are Going
Bike Share, Vanderbilt's proposed free bike-sharing program, will make Vanderbilt's campus more accessible for students and faculty while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions produced by students driving to and from their classes and other activities throughout the day.
Our program will allow students to use their Vandy ID Cards to allow them to freely access a multitude of bicycles that will be placed in over ten locations on Vanderbilt's campus. The program will be free, convenient, and easy to use, and will enable students to efficiently commute between their apartments, classes, libraries, and even off campus areas like Green Hills and Downtown.
Bike Share
We have a vision for a student bike sharing program where undergraduates, graduates and faculty members are able to easily and freely access bicycles for transportation.
Where
Vanderbilt Book Store and other locations throughout campus
Where We Are
Currently, Vanderbilt University does not have a bike sharing program, but has a bike rental program called {Re}cycle.
Fortunately, the city of Nashville has begun the process of creating a paid, bike-sharing program that allows anyone access to the city's cruiser bikes at a fairly expensive rate. Nashville's B-Cycle program costs users $50 a year, with a $45 dollar charge for a 24-hour use of one of the bikes. It has 20 locations throughout Nashville where users are able to return their rented bicycles.
Success Stories
NYU
In the summer of 2010, a student lead "Green Grant" team initiated a bike-sharing program for NYU students to quell the frustrations of commuting around New York City. Their program is founded on the "idea that bicycling can be a safe, healthy, sustainable, and fun way to get around New York City."
The NYU bike-share program offers two bikes, the Biria Cruiser and the more lightweight Worksman Cycle , which students are able to use free of charge with a simple swipe of their NYU ID card. Furthermore, the use of these free bikes is made more efficient by the thirteen pick-up and drop-off stations located throughout Lower Manhattan, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, Chinatown, the Flatiron District, and East Village.
The success of the program has increased the shared bicycles available to 75 units as of Spring 2012, and the number of bikes available is steadily increasing to meet student demand.
The Worksman Cycle, pictured above, is made in Ozone Park, Queens, New York, in their solar-powered factory.
The Biria Cruiser pictured above represents 30 of the 75 bicycles available from NYU's bike-sharing program.
How To Get Involved
You can see what Vanderbilt has done in the way of promoting the use of bicycles around campus here.
Vanderbilt's re{cycle} Program
"Re{cycle} is a bike rental company, dedicated to making biking an easy and accessible form of transportation in and around the Vanderbilt campus."
The key distribution center for re{cycle} is located in Sarratt Student Center. Daily rentals cost $8. Bikes can be picked up between 9am and 1pm and dropped off anytime within 24 hours.