Bikes-for-cars for grad students
New green initiative gives 35 bikes in exchange for parking spots in hopes of cutting costs, congestions, carbon emissions
Jaclyn Youngblood
Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: News
Trees are not the only thing spring has turned green around Rice. A new green initiative spearheaded by Graduate Housing Manager Abeer Ali Mustafa and Associate Vice President of Housing and Dining Mark Ditman has brought 35 bicycles to graduate students living at the Rice Village Apartments.
Students who sign up for a 12- month housing agreement and agree not to register a car at the apartments are eligible to receive one of 33 free bicycles. The other two bicycles have been set aside for temporary use by those students who have a car but still want to bike occasionally, Mustafa said.
He said the project is modeled after similar projects at the University of New England and the University of Colorado and has three main goals.
"The first goal is environmental sustainability," Mustafa said. "[The] second goal is the wellness of the graduate students and third would be to be competitive to other universities."
Director of Sustainability Richard Johnson agreed with Mustafa.
"The free bicycle program makes graduate programs at Rice more competitive," Johnson said in an e-mail.
Ditman said the City of Houston set building criteria for the construction of the apartments, including a reduction in the number of parking spaces at the apartments. One way the university encouraged graduate students not to register cars at the apartments and prevented the construction of additional parking spots was by modifying the shuttle service schedule.
The bikes provide another option, Ditman said.
"The bike program … was in the spirit of creating a housing operation [where] you didn't have to have a car if you didn't want to have one," he said.
The apartment complex has 137 units for graduate students but only 100 parking spaces. Ditman said purchasing the bicycles cost less than building additional parking spots.
"It was a very productive business decision," Ditman said.
The funds used to purchase the bikes came from the rent proceeds of the apartments, Ditman said.
Students who sign up for a 12- month housing agreement and agree not to register a car at the apartments are eligible to receive one of 33 free bicycles. The other two bicycles have been set aside for temporary use by those students who have a car but still want to bike occasionally, Mustafa said.
He said the project is modeled after similar projects at the University of New England and the University of Colorado and has three main goals.
"The first goal is environmental sustainability," Mustafa said. "[The] second goal is the wellness of the graduate students and third would be to be competitive to other universities."
Director of Sustainability Richard Johnson agreed with Mustafa.
"The free bicycle program makes graduate programs at Rice more competitive," Johnson said in an e-mail.
Ditman said the City of Houston set building criteria for the construction of the apartments, including a reduction in the number of parking spaces at the apartments. One way the university encouraged graduate students not to register cars at the apartments and prevented the construction of additional parking spots was by modifying the shuttle service schedule.
The bikes provide another option, Ditman said.
"The bike program … was in the spirit of creating a housing operation [where] you didn't have to have a car if you didn't want to have one," he said.
The apartment complex has 137 units for graduate students but only 100 parking spaces. Ditman said purchasing the bicycles cost less than building additional parking spots.
"It was a very productive business decision," Ditman said.
The funds used to purchase the bikes came from the rent proceeds of the apartments, Ditman said.
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Navneet
posted 3/27/09 @ 12:55 PM CST
Please get you facts right. The bike costs $350 at Bicycle World.
Marty Merritt
posted 3/27/09 @ 4:58 PM CST
I don't understand. If the idea is to encourage people to not bring the cars they already own to the Grad Apartments, why are they giving away free bicycles? Anyone who can afford a car probably already has a bicycle if they need or want one. (Continued…)
Hertfordshire Builders
posted 1/04/10 @ 7:51 AM CST
I actually don't think that this works well but it is still creative
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