SU starts new bike share program for students

Affordable alternative transportation. Music to college students ears. And that’s exactly what Salisbury University had in mind with its new bike system.

Baas Bikes, based in Washington D-C , approached S.U. about a pilot program to provide short term bike rentals to students.

Baas Bikes CEO Rob McPherson says, “Baas bikes is a new form of bike sharing that were bringing to Salisbury university-its completely app-based-there’s no docking stations.”

This means the system uses the bike racks that already exist on campus and the bikes themselves have been provided by Baas at no cost to the university.

And the system is really quite simple. A student who needs a bike can check their app, which uses bluetooth technology to find the nearest one. Then that student can reserve that bike, which will be unlocked for them, also using bluetooth.

It costs a dollar an hour to rent and when you’re finished, you just drop it off at any other existing bike rack on campus.

Wayne Shelton is S.U.’s Director of Campus Sustainability and Environmental Safety, Wayne Shelton, says agreeing to the pilot program was a no-brainer.
 
“One of the things we look at with sustainability is how our students, faculty, and staff get to and from campus and we want to make alternatives for them that don’t emit carbon emissions… I think this will make a significant difference in the overall emissions related to campus operations,” Shelton explains.

The CEO of Baas says S.U. was a perfect fit because of the transportation challenges many students face.

“S.U.’s campus is broken up into two parts, so a lot of students go from one end to another on a regular basis. So this is another transportation option instead of walking which can take 15 to 20 minutes.”

And students seem to be jumping on board with over 213 downloads in just two days.