Last night, we discussed the history and evolution of bike-sharing systems around the world. They were first introduced in Amsterdam and in nearby European countries by activist groups (who placed bikes in various areas so that people could borrow them). However, this led to people purposefully wrecking and stealing the bikes. Consequently, certain precautions were taken to avoid these circumstances when new bike-sharing systems were introduced, but people still found ways to steal the bikes, etc. Since larger companies became hesitant to adopt these systems, places such as universities began to bring them to their campuses for their students (and companies were able to advertise on the bikes and bike stands). Even Cornell has its own bike-sharing system for its students.
Back at home, I enjoy biking recreationally. While I’m on campus, I (and the rest of the group) discussed how it might be much more difficult: the hilly campus provides a difficult environment for riding a bike; the rainy and snowy weather that is prevalent throughout much of the year could be treacherous and unsafe; the locations of the bikes are very inconvenient to get to. As a result, I am much more likely to walk places than bike there. We also talked about how the bike-sharing system has not caught on as much in the United States as it has in other countries: we give preference to car companies and are reliant on cars instead of moving towards a means which is more energy-effective.
It is interesting to think about how focused we are as a society on car usage rather than bike usage. I believe that one aspect contributing to this is the desire for cars or other public transportation to get people to far-away locations quickly and easily rather than bikes. For instance, someone living over in the far corners of Collegetown would be more likely to use the TCAT or a friend’s car to get to class on the Ag Quad rather than riding a bike due to it taking less time and effort to get from one end of Cornell to the other. As you mentioned, bikes can be easily stolen, whereas TCATs and carpooling are fairly reliable sources of transportation without as much risk.
This is a really interesting response — it seemed like it was a great table talk! I really think expanding the use of bikes around college campuses across the nation would be fantastic for an assortment of reasons. In many campuses, biking would allow one to arrive at any other point in campus in a reasonable time, and would not only reduce traffic and environmental pollution but would also promote healthy exercise!