Bike-parking program curbs thefts

Bike thefts on campus have been reduced in the past few weeks thanks to the free bike parking service sponsored by the Wharton School and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia that launched in August.

"Having the bike-parking station has helped practically eliminate bike theft on campus for the last three weeks," said Parker Snowe, Wharton associate director of international programs and board member of the Bicycle Coalition. "It's a nice service to offer for Penn residents. This is quite a popular idea in China and Europe. It's relatively new here in the United States."

With thieves using sophisticated methods to break bike locks, the service provided by the Bicycle Coalition is becoming more and more valuable.

"If it's not made permanent, I will drop out of the Wharton school," first-year MBA student Omar Mallick said.

Initially begun as a service directed at MBA students who attend a three-week pre-term orientation, the program is attracting other members of the Penn community, including other students, staff and faculty.

Although this is not the first year the program has been offered, it is the first time it has been able to function for four weeks, up from three last year. The service ends after the first week of classes due to lack of funding.

The Bicycle Coalition has hired local cycling store Neighborhood Bike Works to do the actual parking of the bikes, as the business has provided bike parking for the X Games and big bike races in Philadelphia.

"They have lots of experience," Snowe said.

According to Snowe, the program currently is funded by credit card company MBNA America.

For four weeks, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., employees of Neighborhood Bike Works sat under a white tent behind Stiteler Hall and Huntsman Hall registering the bikes.

"I think it would be better to keep the bikes later," said Mustafa Rashid, an instructor at Neighborhood Bike Works. "But [the Bike Coalition isn't] sure if they'll have enough funding. If we could stay open later, we'd have more bikes because many people want to keep their bikes after" 6 p.m.

Students are charged a $5 fee per day if they do not pick up their bikes.

Beyond simply parking the bikes, Bike Works employees also make minor repairs on the bikes that are stored during the day.

"If you ask the guys to fix your bike, they're happy to do it. I had a couple of repairs I needed on my bike and when I picked it up, it was fine," Snowe said.

Cyclists have complimented the bike-parking service for reducing the fear of bike thefts.

"The only time I parked outside of the [Bicycle Coalition's] parking station, my back tire got messed up," first-year MBA student Dan Levin said. "It should be a right for us to store our bikes safely at Wharton."

According to Snowe, the service has been well-received by the Penn Police, who no longer have to chase down bike thieves and investigate thefts.

Though the service will end after the first week of classes, the Bicycle Coalition and members of the Penn community are working on presentation for the University administration to approve a permanent bike-parking station building.

With the School of Design preparing the aesthetic look of the station, and Wharton students conducting marketing surveys gauging campus interest in the service, the Bicycle Coalition is continuing to take steps to establish a permanent station.

Snowe stressed that the bike-parking service would need to store 80-100 bicycles per day before the University administration would consider the plan.

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