Razorbikes provides free, "green" transportation
Kimber Wenzelburger
Issue date: 8/25/08 Section: News
A bicycle-sharing system for the UA community was just an idea a year and a half ago, but now, 20 bikes later, the "Razorbikes" program is available on the UA campus.
A way to remove and revamp old bikes left sitting on campus, as well as an "environmentally friendly" method for students to move around, Razorbikes is the brainchild of Mike Seither, associate director of UA Transit, and is jointly sponsored by the Associated Student Government.
This free program places bikes on campus, and once students, faculty, staff and alumni register for the program, any Razorbike - distinguishable by the tennis ball on the handlebar - can be unlocked by combining the user's pass-code with the three-digit number found on the bike decal.
Even though providing "sustainable" transportation is an important part of Razorbikes, Seither said, the program wasn't born with just the sustainability aspect in mind.
"It wasn't particularly because I was trying to save the planet," he said. "I was just trying to stop the madness."
Still, though, members of the UA Applied Sustainability Center have expressed interest in Razorbikes.
"We as individual people are definitely interested," said Jeff Rice, ASG program manager. "We're interested in supporting it and we want to see it become successful, even if that's as minor as us finding bikes to donate to the program."
While UA Housing officials generally collect abandoned bikes once a year and deliver them to the Seven Hills Homeless Center in Fayetteville, many of those bikes proved to be unusable and simply were thrown away by the center.
Now, however, old bikes found left on campus are donated to Razorbikes and fixed up to become usable to the UA community.
"The start of this was just trying to get rusting bikes back into service," Seither said. "It's kind of frustrating [seeing those bikes], and I see people who can use them on campus."
Around 50 people - most of them faculty and staff members - have signed up to use Razorbikes so far, said Andy Gilbride, program adviser of UA Parking, and Gilbride said he hopes to see many more users this year.
A way to remove and revamp old bikes left sitting on campus, as well as an "environmentally friendly" method for students to move around, Razorbikes is the brainchild of Mike Seither, associate director of UA Transit, and is jointly sponsored by the Associated Student Government.
This free program places bikes on campus, and once students, faculty, staff and alumni register for the program, any Razorbike - distinguishable by the tennis ball on the handlebar - can be unlocked by combining the user's pass-code with the three-digit number found on the bike decal.
Even though providing "sustainable" transportation is an important part of Razorbikes, Seither said, the program wasn't born with just the sustainability aspect in mind.
"It wasn't particularly because I was trying to save the planet," he said. "I was just trying to stop the madness."
Still, though, members of the UA Applied Sustainability Center have expressed interest in Razorbikes.
"We as individual people are definitely interested," said Jeff Rice, ASG program manager. "We're interested in supporting it and we want to see it become successful, even if that's as minor as us finding bikes to donate to the program."
While UA Housing officials generally collect abandoned bikes once a year and deliver them to the Seven Hills Homeless Center in Fayetteville, many of those bikes proved to be unusable and simply were thrown away by the center.
Now, however, old bikes found left on campus are donated to Razorbikes and fixed up to become usable to the UA community.
"The start of this was just trying to get rusting bikes back into service," Seither said. "It's kind of frustrating [seeing those bikes], and I see people who can use them on campus."
Around 50 people - most of them faculty and staff members - have signed up to use Razorbikes so far, said Andy Gilbride, program adviser of UA Parking, and Gilbride said he hopes to see many more users this year.
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Monica Ackers
posted 3/11/09 @ 12:43 AM CST
wow, this brings back some great memories! it seems like just yesterday i was watching all of these great shows, and more great shows. this homecoming theme has been so much fun!
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