Sharing a healthy ride

Article Photos

MARQUETTE - Bicycle riding is clean, cheap and it keeps you healthy.

Using bicycles as a means of transportation is a favorite of many Marquette residents, and soon it will also be a available to Northern Michigan University students - even those without a bicycle.

Jason Morgan, president of Associated Students of NMU, has been working on a free bike-share program for students that is scheduled to launch this week.

"It's a great way of single transportation, it's healthy and it's good for the environment," Morgan said. "It's all around a beneficial program."

Using 25 bikes that were left behind by students who left campus over the years, Morgan and student volunteers have been preparing the bikes for the program.

"We've been fixing them up ... (using) students who are interested in seeing the program take off," he said. "We have a lot of community and campus support."

Students will be able to check out bikes free of charge for up to three days .

"We don't have enough bikes to let people check them out for a longer time," Morgan said.

They can be checked out from the NMU library or Physical Education Facility. Late fees will be assessed if bikes are not returned. Morgan plans to run the program until Thanksgiving, then offer it again when the snow is gone in spring.

Morgan initially got the idea to create a bike-share program after the city of Marquette's program did not pan out.

"I just started thinking, why didn't Marquette's program work out?" he said. "Why don't we try something on campus?"

Launched in 2005, Marquette's Yellow Bike program allowed residents to use yellow bikes that were located throughout the city.

Morgan said if the campus program succeeds, he plans to extend it to the greater Marquette area.