On-Campus Bike Share System to Debut this Semester

Will Walker

@willreedwalker

The walk from the Sports Complex to the Administration Building can be long, but it may get a lot shorter soon due to AUC’s bike share system, Bikie.

Bikie, a Student Union (SU) project which is being implemented in partnership with the Office of Sustainability, is intended to create a convenient, on-campus option for short-term bike transport. The program is planned to begin operating this semester, according to the Office of Sustainability.

Bikie will consist of two bike stations, located at the Administration Building and the Sports Complex, which will house 10 bikes in total, half of which will be electric. 

The first ten minutes with a bike will be free, but after that, the renter will pay EGP 0.5 EGP per minute on a normal bike, and EGP 1 per minute on an e-bike. The cost will be paid using AUC’s coin system, which operates through the university’s mobile app.

AUC Sustainability Officer Yasmin Mansour sees the program from a “sustainability perspective.” To her, Bikie is about moving beyond theory to promote tangible, healthy environmental practices.

Bikie is the culmination of several programs through which the university had already been moving toward having a bike share system. Since the new campus opened in 2008, students have used their own bikes on campus, said Mansour.

Sustainability Manager Sahar Al-Ghandour said that the system will also provide a means of exercise, and this falls within the category of sustainability.

“Healthy living, wellness, exercise—these are all just synonyms for sustainability,” Al-Ghandour said.

There is no set date for Bikie’s debut, but Mansour said they are aiming for the project to be ready before the end of the semester. 

According to Mansour, there remain “operational concerns” to be addressed before the program is ready. 

“We still need to finalize the last steps,” she said.

When Bikie begins, there will be limits to where the bikes can be taken; the biggest concern has been keeping the plaza clear for pedestrians. 

“There are specified tracks where you can actually take the bikes. For example, you shouldn’t be able to ride them through the plaza because that would be very dangerous,” SU Vice President Salma Ehab told The Caravan.

To solve this problem, the Office of Sustainability upgraded the bike road on campus last year in order to clearly designate the path between the two stations, according to Adham Sherif, the associate chairperson of the SU’s Community Integration Committee.

Sherif says that the system has a number of precursors, including the use of electric scooters by the organizers of last year’s Lucid Fest concert and a “pilot phase” for the bikes, which took place in the dorms at the beginning of the current semester. 

“One of the aims of this project was to make AUC more carbon friendly,” said Hashim Ismail, general manager of SU’s International Students and Dorm Affairs Committee.

“This entire campus is designed to be pedestrian-friendly,” added Sherif. 

Sherif cited the existence of tunnels which help keep the plaza clear by allowing supplies to be transported underground instead.

Mansour says that the Bikie program falls in line with the university’s strategic plan, and overall, she hopes it will improve students experience at AUC.