Campus Bike Programs Are The Next Big Student Movement

Imagine a dedicated space on a college campus that offers students a free set of tools to crank on bicycles together. Imagine bicycle rentals for students to borrow for a week or an entire semester. Imagine on-campus bicycling groups when students can find a group of their peers having fun and cycling down campus roadways together.  

Many campuses now offer these types of vibrant, bicycle-centered spaces that build community while encouraging students to get out and ride. And as the culture wars have become more polarizing, some young people have turned to bicycling groups to kindle meaningful friendships and launch a new kind of campus movement.

Know what you want

In some ways, bike-focused spaces and groups are a natural fit for post-secondary life. College campuses are often designed to prioritize walkability and facilitate easy access to classes, libraries, food, and other amenities.

This is why bicycling has been able to satisfy the needs of students who have a desire to renew their connection with nature, to get across campus in a short amount of time, to find new social groups. It’s also a way to explore off-campus options in a more convenient way and provides autonomy. 

Tartan Bike Project, for instance, is a new initiative currently being led by Kenedy and Hosea — who, like all the students we interviewed for this story, preferred to be identified by their first names only — working closely with administrative staff at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to bring their first-ever student-led bicycle repair and rental space to life.

At Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, meanwhile, Allan has initiated the soon-to-be bicycle library, Brandeis Bikes, a reincarnation of the old DeisBikes that used to live at the school. 

Lastly, Orange Bike Project of Austin, Texas, a student-led bicycle repair shop, has been running since 2008 and is currently managed by student leader McTzviel. It is fully operational with afternoon hours, and some of the original alumni are still hanging around. 

Each project was a student-initiated endeavor that sought to do the same thing: connect students on campus with reliable bicycle resources and a tool to access off-campus activities.

Getting them started, though, isn’t always easy. 

“[You have to be] stubborn, know what you want, and have a good idea of what that looks like,” said Kenedy, who was inspired by the Orange Bike Project at University of Texas, which she attended before transferring to Carnegie Mellon. When she got to Pittsburgh, she met Hosea, who helped her raise over $20,000 to start the Tartan Bike Project and advocated for space on campus to be allocated for a bike shop.

The Orange Bike Project has been on the UT campus for many years, consistently serving students. “The project gives a lot, but the project also takes a lot — so have resiliency and patience,” said McTzviel, emphasizing the logistics involved with sustaining a long-term initiative. 

Allan shared a similar lesson after Brandeis University rejected his initial proposal to launch a bicycle library late last year, which he described as a different kind of academic endurance that requires a strong sense of purpose, a clear vision, and a willingness to adapt. 

“It showed me where the gaps were and how to strengthen the proposal,” he said. 

Know Your Whys

Each campus bike project leader said it’s worth the effort to create these groups because they’ll live on even after the founders graduate. And while they’re personally enrolled, they can enjoy creating a physical space for students to gather and work on bicycles, and just hang out with friends. 

For students like Allan, Hosea, Kenedy, and McTzviel, spending time working on their bike projects was the equivalent of a real-world practicum. It gave them the opportunity to leave a lasting mark and serve the needs of future students, while learning skills relevant to the post-college world, like writing proposals, time management, building a team, working as a team, and project management. It was a crash course on entrepreneurship and business management — as well as a place to have fun. 

“Sometimes you have to remind yourself that you are there for school,” joked McTzviel. 

Looking to start a student bike project on your campus? Check out the Youth-Bike (YB) Hub newsletter from the National Youth Bike Council. The YB Hub newsletter lifts up youth-bike initiatives happening around the country and leads quarterly calls between these groups. 

On July 14th, 11 am ET, the National Youth Bike Council is also partnering with Tatiana, former president of Starter Bike from Georgia Tech, for a webinar on developing guides to help students start campus bike projects. This conversation will cover information from sourcing tools and parts, to securing space and allies, covering essential resources you need to start or sustain a bike program on your campus.