A faster way to zig zag around campus

Students can get around in a more timely fashion thanks to an hourly bicycle rental service on campus.

Derrick Lobo, manager of parking and transportation services, collaborated with Chandra Kohler, director of campus recreation and university unions, to hire Zagster, a North American bicycle-renting company, to bring the bicycle rental service to campus. The service began Sept. 30.

So far there are a total of 10 bikes at two locations, the Recreation and Wellness Center and the University Village, where bicycles can be returned or checked out. University Village is located at the intersection of Carlos Bee Boulevard and Hayward Boulevard.

“School housing is at it’s maximum capacity, so over 80 students are staying at University Village,” Lobo said. “The bicycles can help students travel more quickly from University Village to campus.”

Lobo said bicycling to campus is beneficial for students, will help the environment and cut down time looking for parking.

“This will also reduce the vehicles around campus and contribute to reducing carbon footprints, allowing our university to demonstrate commitment to the planet,” Lobo said.

Each bike is costing CSUEB $100 a month per bike, a total of $1,000 monthly. A portions of student fees are being used to pay for the new bicycle service.

Prices for riders begin at $2 an hour with a cap of $10 per day, and a $15 one-time membership fee. The first three hours are free, “so if students only have one class a day, or want to grab something to eat, they are able to go within the time frame,” Lobo said.

Students, staff and faculty can access the bikes by creating a Zagster account using the Zagster mobile application or online at zagster.com/csueb.

In order to rent a bicycle, riders sign in to their account and enter the identification number of the bike they wish to use. The application provides an access code for the lock box, which can be used to lock and unlock the bicycle anywhere along their trip.

Once the bike is returned to a Zagster location, the touch of a button ends the rental and makes it available for the next user.

Users are charged a $20 late fee for keeping a bike over 24 hours. Bikes can be taken round trip or one-way, but must be returned to a Zagster bike location.

Zagster covers all maintenance, but riders may be responsible for the cost of repairs if Zagster determines the rider was intentionally negligent. “The maintenance is done on a regular basis,” said John Williams, president of Scoville Public Relations, on behalf of Zagster. “If a bike is reported to have an issue it is immediately removed from active service and is not available again until a Zagster-certified mechanic has inspected it and confirmed it is ready to ride.”

“We are hoping this program is a success and we are able to renew our one-year lease, and add more bicycle stations at different locations with the revenue that will be made,” said Kohler.

Zagster provides full access to an online dashboard where the university can monitor and view data about bike sharing to ensure success.

The number of Zagster users on campus is confidential, but Williams said, “We’re pleased with what we’re seeing and it’s par with our expectations.”