Chancellor Carol Folt and Rameses Jr. cut the ribbon and officially launched UNC’s new Tar Heel Bikes program on Wednesday.
The new bike share program is one of the latest efforts in the University’s Three Zeros Environmental Initiative, which aims to reduce waste, water use and CO2 emissions on campus.
“It’s such a great opportunity for us to continue to live the practices of sustainability and the three zeros that we care so much about,” said Folt.
Students can rent bikes from any of the 18 hubs around campus. Cheryl Stout, director of transportation and parking, said students can sign up through the app and ride for up to an hour for free everyday, or pay $30 for the Lifestyle Plan, which includes two free hours of riding daily. Both plans allow users to reserve bikes in advance.
Gotcha Bike, the company behind Tar Heel Bikes, was co-founded by a UNC graduate and already has bike share programs on other UNC system campuses. Brad Ives, associate vice chancellor for campus enterprises, pointed out that, unlike the UNC-Charlotte and UNC-Wilmington campuses, the terrain in Chapel Hill poses a unique challenge for bikers.
“I’m still waiting to see the first student take one from the business school and go up Skipper Bowles Drive," Ives said. "It’s going to be an intrepid individual who does that, but we know it’s going to happen. I expect more of our traffic patterns will be in the flatter parts of campus, but it’s going to be really fun to watch all of this happen.”
The bikes have only been on campus since Friday, but the response has already been positive. Four hundred students and staff signed up for the program before it officially launched.
“We think by the excitement and the enthusiasm around the bikes and that sort of thing speaks for itself,” said Stout. “I mean we haven’t seen the statistics about how many staff versus students, but I anticipate that a large portion of that sign up has been from the student population, so I think that’s a huge bode of confidence and support for it.”
The program evolved out of a small student-run bike share program, and has gained momentum since it became a part of the Transportation Department’s five-year plan and received final approval in March. Stout said they already have plans to expand the program to two new locations in the near future and will be monitoring where to locate additional hubs.
