New campus bike fleet hits Mississippi State streets today

Wednesday, 07 January 2009

Mississippi State students returning Wednesday today for spring semester classes should find the 832-acre campus a bit easier to traverse with the implementation of the university’s new bicycle fleet program. Ultimately to include 100 cruiser models, the maroon and white bikes currently are being strategically located at various locations. They are available to students, faculty and staff on a first-come basis beginning at 8 a.m. daily. Associate Dean of Students Thomas Bourgeois said the bicycles will feature an MSU logo, as well as a registration sticker and distinctive flag attached to the rear wheel to make them easily identifiable. The two-wheelers will be registered and maintained by the parking services department, which also is responsible for their redistribution around campus at the end of each day. University officials have called the new bicycle program “a natural fit” for the land-grant institution’s master plan that seeks, among other things, to ease vehicular congestion through a long-established shuttle system in collaboration with increased cycle and foot traffic. The plan also proposes construction of additional bike paths and the shift of motorized vehicle traffic away from the pedestrian-heavy center of campus. The bicycle program also promotes fitness and will help students make it to class quicker with student parking areas being designated only on the outskirts of campus, said Student Association President Braxton Coombs last fall when the program was being developed. Beyond campus, Starkville in Motion, a community organization that encourages cycling and walking, recently worked to secure funding for a 2.2-mile multi-use path to connect the university with the western part of the Oktibbeha County seat.