Bike Share in Tucson, AZ

Posted on 29. Jan, 2010 by Melanie Meyers in Video

The University of Arizona in Tucson recently launched a bike share program on campus, which is available to faculty, staff, and students.  The University of Arizona is a relatively small campus – about 1 square mile for the main part of campus – with a large population of nearly 40,000 students and some 20,000 odd faculty and staff.  As you can imagine car parking and bike parking can become quite crowded, so it’s nice to see the university encouraging people to ride for short trips to and from campus instead of driving.

Check out the video below, which talks more about the UA bike sharing program.  The video is by Mike McKisson of the recently launched Tucson Velo.  The goal of Tucson Velo is to keep Tucson cyclists appraised of important news, issues, and events happening in the Tucson area and was developed with the Bike Portland model in mind.  It’s very nice to have such a site in Tucson and Arizona!

TucsonVelo.com: University of Arizona bike sharing program from Mike McKisson on Vimeo.

6 Responses to “Bike Share in Tucson, AZ”

  1. Erik

    30. Jan, 2010

    NAU had this going two years ago, but it’s cool they are trying it in Tucson.

    http://home.nau.edu/sustain/yellowbike.asp

    http://www4.nau.edu/insidenau/bumps/2007/10_3_07/bikes.htm

  2. Melanie Meyers

    01. Feb, 2010

    Hi Erik,

    I had no idea NAU had such a program, so thanks for sharing that information. Have you used any of the yellow bikes yourself? If so, what was your experience with them? Thanks for the information!

  3. Greg Raisman

    02. Feb, 2010

    Sounds good.

    I was really impressed with this bike lending program I saw in Belgium. You might find it interesting, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=879iL5GxJoI

    Thanks for riding.

    Greg Raisman
    Community and School Traffic Safety Partnership
    Portland Bureau of Transportation

  4. Michael McKisson

    02. Feb, 2010

    Thanks for posting this, Melanie.

    One of my readers pointed out a limitation of the service. It only runs until 4 p.m.

    He wanted to have the option to ride it home after work if his bike was stolen.

    I could also see it being useful to a student who had a drink or two and didn’t want to drive. (it is still dangerous to ride drunk)

    I’ve emailed the director to get his take on the end time.

  5. Melanie Meyers

    03. Feb, 2010

    Hi Greg,

    Thanks for the link to that video. It is really interesting to see how different cities and organizations approach the idea of bike share, and it seems like some of the initial kinks in the idea are being ironed out. Thanks for sharing!

  6. Melanie Meyers

    03. Feb, 2010

    Hi Mike,

    Those are both good points about the bike share at the University of AZ. I know some students have night classes, so it seems unfair to limit the use to day-time hours. I’ll look forward to hearing what the director has to say. Thanks for the comment!

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