Red Bike Program riding high in popularity

By MARTHA MARTINEZ

Anthony Galindo has his work cut out for him. It could take him anywhere from five to six hours a day to do his job for the Red Bike Program at Fresno State.

Galindo, a senior at Fresno State, is one of two repair people for the program. On a busy day, he can repair more than six bicycles and depending on the type of repair can spend up to an hour on each of the bicycles.

“There are days when you think you’ll have nothing to do,” Galindo said. “Then by lunchtime, we have a lot of bicycles to repair.”

Repairs could be as benign as fixing a flat tire or as serious as having to fix the gears on the bicycle, Galindo said.

Galindo has been working for the Red Bike Program since October 2003. He said this semester is the busiest he has seen in regard to bicycle repairs.

The reason for all the repairs is because “our older bikes are really old,” he said.

The Red Bike Program, run by the department of parking and transportation, started three years ago with about 55 bicycles and this semester a record number of bicycles were rented, said Annette Harvey, director of commuter services.

The bicycles that were used when the program started, which Galindo referred to as the “older bikes,” are still being used.

The bicycles were not new to begin with. They were reconditioned and donated to Fresno State by the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.

The prison has donated bicycles to the school each semester since the program was started. The 30 bicycles the prison donates each semester are not enough to meet student demands and break down too quickly, Harvey said.

In fall 2003, the Red Bike Program was not able to supply enough bicycles for students for the first time in its operating history. About 100 students were placed on a waiting list for the program, Harvey said.

“Demand was great, so we decided to go buy some,” she said.

With the money from parking citations, which is to be used for forms of transportation other than driving, the commuter program purchased 200 bicycles.

The department of parking and transportation has a record of 320 rented bicycles this semester, Harvey said. Some of those are still under the original rent dates from when the program first got started in 2001, she said.

“All that happens is they do not get their deposit back,” Harvey said of students who have had their bicycles since 2001. Those students receive phone calls from the transportation department telling them to return the bicycles, Harvey said.

The $5-per-semester rental fee for a bicycle is what seems to attract students. A refundable $15 deposit for an old bicycle and $50 for a new bicycle is also required. A bicycle lock and helmet also come included in the price. The bicycle must be returned at the end of the semester for students to get their deposit back.

Harvey encourages students to join the program. She said with high gas prices and the price of parking permits, students should be part of the Red Bike Program.

Students who wish to rent a bicycle are not too late; 10 are still available to rent this semester.

Graduate student Sunil Singh, who was on the waiting list in fall 2003, finds it easier to ride a bicycle to school than to drive or walk.

He also rides to his job at the Save Mart Center.

“It was the cheap thing to do and I can go anywhere,” Singh said.

Sandeepram Lakshmanan, who also enjoys the low cost of the program, not only uses the bicycle for school, but also for errands such as grocery shopping.

Low prices are not all students are attracted to. The repair services the Red Bike Program offers are what attracted Arul Veluppillai to join; although the low price did help, he said.

“They replace [the bicycle] if it is lost,” he said.

All three students live across the street from campus or within a short walking distance. But they find it convenient to ride their bicycles.

Harvey said most students in the program live within a one-mile radius.

“Believe it or not,” she said, “people still ride their cars.”