Princeton University's bike-sharing program is going through an expansion, which means more will be able to use them.
The shiny new bikes lined up throughout the Princeton University campus are a testament to the success of the university's bike-sharing experiment.
What began with 10 bikes and crossed fingers a year and a half ago has blossomed with the addition of 50 more sets of wheels this week and the welcome promise that the program will be expanding into the greater community.
For the reasonable one-time fee of $20, riders get to use the new 8-speed city bikes for up to two hours for free, and $2 per extra hour after that.
The program is available through Zagster, one of the nation's first bike-sharing ventures. The company's technology allows riders to unlock any bike through an app on their iPhones or Android mobile phones, at any of nine campus locations.
The metrics for the pilot program have been gratifying.
Princeton expands bike-sharing program
Kim Jackson, director of university transportation and parking services, reported to Princeton's town council last month that 300 people had signed up for the service since its launch in November 2014, with the number of rides topping the 1,300 mark.
And now, with a $192,000 federal grant administered through the New Jersey Department of Transportation, Princeton officials are ready to take the program on the road, so to speak.
Expanding beyond the borders of campus is an important step forward in town-gown relations, not to mention a boost to efforts to reduce the university's carbon footprint.
Sixty bikes plying the township's leafy streets are far healthier than 60 cars spewing their toxic fumes and burning their tanksful of gas.
And it sure beats circling busy Nassau Street waiting for a parking spot to become available.
Bike sharing began at the Dinky station
"When people have options like this, it makes it easier to leave a car at home, which reduces congestion, pollution and emissions on and around campus," Jackson says.
As of now, the bicycles are available at Princeton's NJ Transit station (the Dinky), Firestone Library, Friend Center, Forbes College, Frist Campus Center, the Lakeside and Lawrence apartment and Alexander Hall, as well as on the Forrestal Campus in Plainsboro.
Another plus: The lightweight bikes are equipped with heavy-duty baskets for hauling books, gym gear and groceries.
As more and more universities, businesses and cities realize the benefits of going bike-friendly, it's encouraging that the relatively new trend is catching on at one of the nation's oldest universities, and that the surrounding community will soon reap some of those benefits as well.