EKU launches bike-share program for students

RICHMOND, Ky. (WTVQ) – Eastern Kentucky University rolled out its new dock-free bike-share program on Monday, the first of its kind on a Kentucky college campus.

The university partnered with LimeBike on the program that’s designed to help students get around the Richmond campus.

There are now 100 brightly painted green and yellow bicycles on campus for students to use. The university says the fleet will increase to 250 bikes in the upcoming weeks.

Here’s how the program works:
1) LimeBike provides the GPS- and 3G-enabled bicycles and requires users to download the firm’s mobile app, available on iPhone and Android platforms, register an account and provide payment information.
2) The user can then use the app to “unlock” and begin to use any of the LimeBike bicycles. LimeBike’s rides cost just $1, or 50 cents for those using an @eku.edu email address, per 30-minute time block. To pay, any user will enter credit card information into the smartphone app for ride credit.
3) Monthly, per semester, and annual subscriptions are also available at a discounted rate. The annual subscription plan, for example, allows students, faculty, and staff to enjoy an unlimited number of rides for $49 per year.
4) When a bike is needed, the app shows users the location of the nearest available bike if one is not immediately visible. No rider is guaranteed access to the same bike when he or she returns to it – or any bike, for that matter – but in most cases will be able to secure another nearby bike.
5) The bicycles can be used to commute to and from off-campus locations, so will likely begin to show up in downtown Richmond and other city locations. Each bike has a 15-pound-capacity basket on the front as well as a headlight and taillight for safety. LimeBike also has a local operations team to maintain the fleet.
6) The bicycles should never be fixed to a bike rack, but users should leave them standing out of the way of foot traffic at the completion of any ride. Each bicycle has several built-in anti-theft devices to deter would-be thieves.

The university says the implementation of LimeBike meshes with the University’s Master Plan, which calls for making the campus more pedestrian-friendly and creating a livelier campus core.