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03182012_penncyclekickoff0031
Penn Cycle Kick Off Event Credit: Christina Prudencio , Christina Prudencio

Walking around campus this spring, one might see the wheels of a bright red bicycle riding around campus.

These bikes are courtesy of PennCycle, a bike-sharing project that was launched March 16 by a group of five undergraduates.

The launch event invited students and staff to sign up for the service, which will cost $10 to use for the rest of the semester. Attendees were also invited to go for a free half-hour ride.

As of March 17, more than 50 people had signed up for the bike-sharing agreement.

Originally thought up by College junior Chris Cruz in the summer of his freshman year, PennCycle has begun to gather momentum as Cruz has worked on turning his vision into a reality by finding other collaborators.

The sharing service allows users to rent out a bike from a service station between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. every day of the week. Currently, the only station that rents bikes is located at Hill College House, but the students behind PennCycle are already speaking with other college house deans about possible expansion for next year.

“Our hope is that we’ll expand to the high rises and the Quad in the fall, and then probably expand to somewhere off campus in the spring of next year,” said College sophomore Madison Roberts, publicity director of PennCycle. “I feel like expansion is really important to the life of the program.”

Beyond increasing the number of locations around campus, PennCycle also wants to reach out to different student populations. Specifically, it plans to reach out to international students and exchange students who may want to bike to class, but find it inconvenient to buy a bike during their short stay in the United States.

According to the Division of Public Safety, which collaborated with students for PennCycle’s launch, the program also has the potential to reduce annual bike thefts by cutting down on the number of unsecured bikes around campus Penn’s bike theft rate increased 57 percent from 2010 to 2011.

“Public Safety is very supportive of the organization’s efforts. PennCycle is secure in many ways,” Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said. “We believe it can convince freshmen not to bring their bikes.”

Each bike is registered with Campus Express and will have a U-Lock that goes with it. Students using PennCycle will be required to undergo a short training session to learn to how to properly secure the bike and how to ride safely.

At the launch event on March 16, many were receptive to the idea of PennCycle.

Wharton senior Happy Liu, one of the first students to sign up for PennCycle, already has some ideas of where she’ll go with the bike.

“I still feel like there’s a lot of Philly that I haven’t seen,” she said. “I’m probably going to take it out for weekend rides or … ride out to Center City for dinner.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” College and Nursing junior Tony Krumbhaar said. “It’s great for your body and great for your environment.”

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