Stony Brook offers bike share program

Taking a page from similar programs around the globe, Stony Brook University is offering a bike share pilot program.

Students selected from a lottery will be able to get access to the 25 bikes, locked to racks around campus, with a common key.

The riders can take the bikes anywhere, including off-campus, then return them to any of the bike racks on school grounds.

Participants will be required to watch a safety video, sign a release of liability, and pay $15 in semester fees and a $15 key and helmet deposit.

“Our goal in initiating this program is to provide students with a simple, healthy way to travel and to reduce the need for automobiles on campus,” said Barbara Chernow, vice president for facilities and services at the school. “This new program will help minimize our carbon footprint and contribute to our overall mission of sustainability.”

Colleges including New York University have adopted the bike share programs that have been popular in some cities, including Washington, D.C.

Stony Brook University hopes to expand the program if it proves to be successful from now through summer. Plans call for the program to run from March 1 every year to the first significant snowfall or the end of the fall semester.