Student Assembly leaders presented a plan to resurrect its Big Green Bike program at the Assembly's Tuesday night meeting.
Between 75 and 100 Iron Horse bicycles would be purchased for communal student use at a total cost of approximately $130 per bicycle, each of which normally retails for $255. According to the plan, participants will purchase a key, which would open all of the bike locks, for $10 per year.
The original BGB program is in its third incarnation; previous schemes met with a variety of difficulties. When it was originally run in 2000, BGB provided 50 bikes without locks for student use, most of which disappeared within weeks of the program's launch. A subsequent program called Rides Across Dartmouth was piloted last spring to work out the kinks for the current project.
According to BGB co-sponsors, past programs were well received on campus despite their flaws, which included extensive damage and theft issues.
"Part of the problem with the past two programs was that students felt no ownership or accountability," said Diana Zhang '06, who ran the RAD program and noted that the quality of the bikes was also an issue.
"Cheap Wal-Mart bikes won't cut it," Zhang said.
Eight of the 10 bikes used in the RAD trial were returned at the end of term, but many came back without their handlebars or seats.
"Some of the damage was just really ridiculous," Zhang said.
This week, the project's leaders will have to address the General Assembly's concerns over theft and damage issues.
"There's no way to prevent people from just driving off with it," project co-sponsor Todd Rabkin Golden '06 said.
Later, however, Golden said he was confident that requiring a fee for lock keys and having participants sign waivers would instill a sense of responsibility in students who join and deter them from damaging the bikes. According to project leaders, the bikes will be registered with Safety and Security and be easily identifiable as part of the BGB program.
Next week's proposal will ask the General Assembly for between $2,000 and $4,000 for the new BGB. Co-sponsors said a bigger upfront investment for higher quality bikes and Kryptonite cable locks will help make the program more successful.
Local businesses and anonymous donors have already pledged approximately $3,500 for the program.
"I'll be kind of disappointed if we can't get 50 bikes at least," Golden said.
Project leaders are planning a campus-wide BlitzMail survey to solicit student response to the program before they present a formal proposal to the Assembly next week.
"I think it'll be a visible change that students will really appreciate," Golden said, comparing the impact of the BGB program on campus to that of the Assembly's new BlitzMail terminals.
"Generally, students are lazy," Zhang said. "I'm lazy too. People definitely find it to be a convenience when there's a bike around to ride."
