Yellow bikes provide campus transport
Logan Marxhausen
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: News
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Well now students don't have to. Within the next couple weeks, the Yellow Bike Program is going to be putting out yellow bikes for students to use.
"The bikes are for all the students," said Grant Schnell, a graduate assistant who coordinates the Yellow Bike Program. "It's really thought of as a community bike. When students need to use a bike on campus, just pick up a yellow bike from a bike rack and take it to class or wherever else you need to go on campus.
"It's convenient, it is a great means of alternative transportation and you can take them all around the St. Cloud campus. Students are utilizing the bikes more and more each year," Schnell said.
The St. Cloud community has been asked to donate bikes they don't use to the Yellow Bike Program so students can benefit from them.
"The St. Cloud community has been great at donating bikes," Schnell said. "We put ads in the paper and we still get calls from people about donating bikes. People still want to donate their bikes for this great cause. The St. Cloud community has been very positive about this."
The program started with an Eagle Scout Project and has developed into the success it is with the help and support of SCSU Outdoor Endeavors, Campus Recreation and SCSU Office of Sports Facilities.
"I have been working here since 2004," Schnell said. "This has been one of the best years for donations of bikes. In the last month, we have received 15 to 20 bikes. We will scatter 15 bikes when the season starts at random bike racks around campus. We have five back from last year's, so there will be plenty of yellow bikes around campus for students to use.
"A lot of the bikes we work on were neglected. We have to lubricate the bikes so they shift properly. We have to make sure the brakes are working properly and that the tires are fit for mobilization, and then we send them to get painted."
Four people from Outdoor Endeavors operate on the bikes before they are sent to Kevin Coleman, who works for SCSU's maintenance department, to get painted yellow.