USU in Logan served as a model for the new USU Eastern Blue Bikes program in Price, which was debuted on Tuesday afternoon. The campus welcomed its newest addition in conjunction with the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce during a ribbon cutting ceremony on the campus.
In October, the work to implement the program began. Spearheaded by Gary Straquadine, Associate Vice President for Career and Technical Education/Vice Provost (CTE) at USUE, the work began to bring this opportunity to USU Eastern students.
Blue Bikes is a free bike share program where students can check out a bike and use it for transportation. The bicycles can be rented for an extended period of time as the students use them to travel to classes, work, stores and more. For long-term bike use, students must provide their own bike lock and helmet, and they are responsible for keeping the bike safe, but the use of the bike is free.
“The students can come in here, they can check out a bike for free. It will be linked to their student ID and their account so that they can rent and use it for whatever they need,” said Kirt Jensen, one member of team that brought the program to life.
As part of the program, USU Eastern is also offering bikes for more rugged adventures, such as riding trails on Wood Hill. These bikes are rented for a shorter duration, generally two to three days, and come with a lock. A helmet remains the responsibility of the renter for the mountain cycles.
The program was made possible by USU Eastern, Peczuh Printing, Emery Telcom, Market Express and Gagon Family Medicine. Community donations totaled more than $7,000 in just a few short weeks.
“They stepped up within a couple weeks of being asked and it was amazing,” Jensen said of the businesses.
The bikes were purchased locally from Bicyclewerks in Price. Employees from the local business also provided assistance for assembling the bicycles and training on maintenance. In addition, the university’s student organization donated the funds for the tools that will be used to maintain the bikes.
“It doesn’t look like very many tools but they are kind of pricey so I wanted to thank the student organization for doing that,” said Jensen during the ribbon cutting ceremony.
In addition to the sharing program for students, USU Eastern Blue Bikes is accepting donations of used bicycles from community members. Donated adult bikes will be revamped and enter the fleet for local students while children’s bikes will be tuned up and then donated to those in need.
For more information on the program or to make a donation, please call Jensen at (435) 650-5227.
