Wheels up! E-bikes arrive on WKU’s campus

BOWLING GREEN, Ky,- Students can now ride in style around campus

“I just saw a bunch of kids playing around with them. It was like Christmas morning except it was the middle of the night. I just thought it was so fun, just being able to zoom around campus was great,” said Western Kentucky University student Paul Padden.

Dozens of electric bikes have arrived at WKU. For only 29 cents per minute, students can ride to class.

“It’s an important piece of the puzzle for transportation. It allows for students who don’t have a car to get around, it provides mobility choices for students who don’t have a car,” said Assistant Vice President of Business Services Jennifer Tougas.

It also gives an alternative to other forms of public transportation.

“There are always obstacles whenever you have public transportation and this is just another alternative, and a greener alternative than something that would be using gas or fossil fuels. This is something that we can recharge,” said Wheels Central Operations Associate Richard Garrell.

The electric bikes are so easy for students to use. All you do is hop on the bike, download the wheels app, scan the QR code. Then clip on your helmet and you’re ready to go.

They can only go up to seven miles per hour, which is one of the many safety features.

“Here you have a seat, two pegs that you put your feet on and hands on the handlebars, so there are five points of contact for safety,” said Garrell.

This is the second attempt at an e-bike program in Bowling Green. There are 50 bikes on the campus right now, but up to 300 will be arriving in the city soon.

“We knew we wanted to bring the service back, but we also knew we needed the connection with downtown in order to make it successful,” said Tougas.

In addition to campus, they will be parked in six other spots around downtown.