Several U students working in conjunction with the Bennion Community Service Center and with help from the Salt Lake Bicycle Collective hope to have a bicycle collective set up on campus by next fall.
The collective would provide students who commute to campus by bicycle with several services, such as finding the fastest and safest routes to campus, providing bicycle repairs and creating a community of U bikers.
The bicycle collective would also be a place where students could rent bicycles to ride around campus for the day.
The students hope to allocate a space for the shop somewhere near the middle of campus.
“We don’t need anything really nice, just a space to put some bike stands,” said Jesse Brewer, a senior chemistry and environmental studies major.
Another goal of the bicycle collective is to increase the number of students commuting by bicycle and to promote bicycling on campus.
“(Commuting by bike) is cheap; you get a lot closer parking and fresh air,” Brewer said.
“Getting more students to commute using bikes will help solve the parking problem we are currently having,” said Jon Wilkey, a chemical engineering junior.
“Commuting by bike is also a great way to incorporate exercise into your commute,” said Andrew Bergeson, a senior biology major. “I love to ride, but I often don’t have time except to and from school.”
In order to have the bicycle collective serve U students in the best way possible, the students are currently taking surveys from students online at www.ubike.org.
“The more we know, the better we can provide for student needs,” Wilkey said.
Students working on the collective highly encourage students, both those who commute using bicycles and those who don’t, to take the survey.
“If students are really behind things, it is more likely that they will get done,” Bergeson said.
Brewer, Wilkey and Bergeson will be meeting with the Parking Committee on Wednesday in hopes of getting their support.
“There has to be institutional support or we won’t be able to get a space,” Wilkey said
Brewer, Wilkey and Bergeson all said it is crucial to survey as many students as possible.
“The more students we can survey and have supporting the bicycle collective, the better chance we have,” Wilkey said.