By Maddy Chalifoux, SCS Student Advising Leader 2018-19:
Wondering how the university’s new bike share program works? You’re not alone! While may students and community members alike have taken advantage of this innovative new program, many of us are still left wondering exactly how it works.
The Indiana-based company, VeoRide, is the organization responsible for bringing this pilot program to the UIUC campus for the 2018-2019 school year. The company has provided the campus with a fleet of 500 brand new turquoise bicycles. The brightly colored bikes easily stand out in a crowd and can be rented simply by scanning a QR code on the bike with your smartphone. To do this, download the VeoRide app from the app store and follow the instructions. The best part? No need to lock up the bike when you reach your destination! Simply park the bike, engage the wheel-locking mechanism, and go about the rest of your day.
So just how do these bikes function? Each bike contains its own internal GPS and is equipped with a self-locking mechanism on the rear wheel which is triggered by the smartphone app. Once you have downloaded the app, you will be charged directly through the app for each of your rides. The cost of using these bikes is 50 cents per 15 minutes. Just make sure to properly park your bike once you’ve reached your destination so that you don’t get charged for a longer ride than necessary!
One note of common curtesy, however: try to avoid parking your VeoBike in places where it blocks public sidewalks or streets. Also, make sure to treat these bikes with proper care so that our campus can continue to benefit from this program in the years to come! If you observe an improperly parked bike, you are encouraged to contact either the city or university, or to directly contact the company, whose contact information is provided on all bikes.
Take care to ride safely: always remember to wear a helmet and follow the rules of the road! And next time you are running late to chemistry lab, or don’t feel like making the long walk between Grainger and Noyes, pull out your smartphone, scan the QR code, and hop on your new bike! Enjoy the ride!