Beginning in mid-August, NCSU Transportation will launch a pilot program with LimeBike, a dockless bike sharing service that will provide students, faculty and staff with short-term rentals of 300 public bicycles. 

The program uses a smartphone application, which will allow students to locate available bikes on a map of campus, which they can unlock using the app. Once accessed, bikes can be used on or off campus, provided that they are relocked on a rack upon completion of the ride.

“Students have asked for a comprehensive, campus-wide bike-share program for a couple of years,” said Mike Kennon, Assistant Transportation Director for Planning and Operations. “In our research, LimeBike is one of the few bike-share vendors that offer low cost stationless systems.”

Kennon also emphasized the freedom and flexibility that comes with LimeBike, contrasting it with other bike-share programs that have fixed bicycle rack locations.

“In other words, the availability of bikes is much more flexible with this system than systems that require bikes to be locked in proprietary bike racks at a few locations around campus,” Kennon said.

Although LimeBike typically costs $1 per 30 minutes, students, faculty and staff will be charged $.50 for a half-hour rental. Students will pay an initial $5 deposit into their account from the application if they choose to use LimeBike, and the deposit is refundable if the individual decides not to use the service, according to NCSU Transportation.

Initially, 300 bicycles will be accessible on campus in the fall, however Kennon says that if the program is a “good fit for NC State, additional bikes could be added next spring.”

At this time, there are no plans to add additional bike racks to compensate for the 300 LimeBikes being added to campus, however Kennon says that this may change based on feedback to the program’s implementation.

“Additional racks may be added at strategic locations once we see where the demand for the bikes are,” Kennon said. “We are initially targeting bike deployment at residence halls and large activity centers.”

Sarah Williams, the Transportation Demand Manager for NCSU Transportation, believes that the program will give students a greater variety of transportation options. 

“Most people that come to the university don’t have the luxury of parking in front of their building or having access to a car at all,” Williams said. “Having a dockless bike-share on campus will give you the flexibility to hop on a bike and go to class – whether you’ve missed your bus, your parking deck is far away from your classes or you just feel like riding a bike.”

Williams, a senior studying parks, recreation and tourism management, also spoke about the health benefits of cycling as opposed to using the Wolfline or other modes of transportation and her enthusiasm for the activity.

NCSU Transportation estimates that the start date for the program will be Aug. 14, two days before the start of the fall semester, subject to the delivery schedule of the bicycles.