Anyone who has dealt with long, cross-campus walks in between classes knows that timing your campus commute is no easy task. Walking takes a good amount of time, especially when fighting the hordes of students trying to make it to class on time. Even without the traffic, some walks are just too far to get you to class on time. While CATA buses occasionally provide support, it seems that all too often they’re far away or too crowded to solve the problem. So what’s Penn State’s latest solution to make sure students can effectively travel across campus? Bikes.

Penn State Transportation services is currently looking into the possibility of starting a campus bike-sharing program to facilitate alternative transportation for students and University employees, while also supporting sustainability and a healthy lifestyle, according to Penn State news. Transportation services released a survey to gauge student and employee interest, and determine the best ways to proceed with the program, if at all.

Usually, bike shares allow those using the system to borrow a bike at one designated pick-up location, use it, and drop it off at another location, allowing for easy, flexible use. According to the article, most similar programs require a paid membership to use the services, suggesting that if the bike share is implemented a fee will likely be associated with opting in to the program.

A lengthy list of universities, not to mention American and international cities, have bike share systems in place, and companies such as Zagster provide the knowledge and infrastructure to install such initiatives.

Image: Penn State