Students begin green bike program

March 11, 2011

Sophomore engineering major Michael Stanfill tightens the front wheel on a brand new mountain bike - one of 20 being assembled and loaned to students as part of a new sustainability effort on campus.

To shift UAF’s energy usage towards renewable sources, UAF students began a program to increase bicycle use on and around campus. They will begin with the new RISE funded program for UAF Green Bikes.

Students jointly employed through the Office of Sustainability and Outdoors Adventures, began assembling bikes this week under the direction of local expert Simon Rakower. A library of bikes will be available to check out for the year/semester or afternoon starting in April. A new student bike shop will be operated through UAF Outdoor Adventures. The basic model is that the program maintains a fleet of bikes that predominately students can check out with their Polar Express cards. Clinics and workshops will be offered on a monthly basis on bike/sustainability topics.

Three UAF students were authors of this project, Michaela Swanson, Ben Abbott and Lorien Nettleton.