The OSU bike-sharing program is set to include 15 on-campus bike stations and 150 bicycles provided by Massachusetts-based bike-sharing company Zagster. Credit: Brandon Merriman / Lantern photographer
Ohio State has picked a company to bring bike-sharing to Columbus campus students, the university announced Thursday.
Zagster, a Massachusetts-based bike-sharing company, operates programs at other schools as well, including Yale University, Duke University and Princeton University, according to an OSU press release.
The OSU bike-sharing program, a joint initiative between the university and Undergraduate Student Government, was announced in January.
It’s set to include 15 on-campus bike stations and 115 bicycles, the release said. It could launch as soon as this summer with full implementation by Fall Semester, “pending negotiations” between the university and Zagster, the release said.
Zagster is set to provide a variety of bicycles for use by the OSU community. They include commuter, tandem, handle cycle, electric assist, heavy duty and three-wheeled cargo bicycles, which can be used to transport heavier loads, according to the release.
Zagster was one of five bike-sharing companies that submitted bids earlier this month to the university. Other companies included Motivate, which operates CoGo in downtown Columbus, NextBike, Social Bicycles and the Gotcha Group.
Correction:
March 22, 2015
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the bike sharing program will include 15 on-campus bike stations and 150 bicycles, when in fact the program will start with 15 stations and 115 bicycles, with the expectation to grow to include 170 bikes over three years.
