Release date: Aug. 19, 2008
Contact: David Payne at 404-727-0996 or dpayne2@emory.edu

Bike Emory Puts Fun Spin on Campus Commuting

Bike Emory, an innovative commuting program at Emory University in Atlanta, is entering its second year in high gear, including the debut of a Fuji bicycle that was custom-designed for the campus, based on feedback from the program participants.

The Fuji Palisade 1.0 comes in "Emory Blue," has a sleek, retro look, and features a rack for carrying books and 21 gears to power across the university's hilly terrain, along with wider tires to glide over bumps. The Fuji Palisade is exclusively available through the Bike Emory web site, where a range of Fuji bikes are available to members of the Emory community at deeply discounted prices.

"Bike Emory supports the university's transportation and sustainability goals," says Jamie Smith, senior program associate of the Clifton Community Partnership and director of the Bike Emory program. "We want to develop a great bike culture on our campus, because for every person who chooses to bike, that's one less car on the roads around Emory."

Launched in August 2007, Bike Emory grew out of the Clifton Community Partnership -- a university initiative to improve the quality of life within a roughly three-mile radius of the campus. Emory partnered with national bike maker Fuji Bicycles and Bike South, a local bike shop, to design the program, which is the first of its kind in the nation.

In addition to the discounted bike offers, the program includes mobile on-campus bike repair and maintenance stations, classes in bike safety and group fun rides. For those who live too far away to commute to Emory by bike or don’t own one, a bike share component of the program allows them to hop on a borrowed bike for jaunts around the campus.

The bike share feature began in April with a fleet of just 20 bikes that have been checked out more than 300 times during the summer months. The bike-share fleet is set to double in the fall, with a total of six bike checkout stations and 40 available bikes.

"Over the coming year, we're going to keep expanding, adding even more bike-share locations and more bike racks and other facilities," Smith says.

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate experience, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. Perennially ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report, Emory encompasses nine academic divisions as well as the Carlos Museum, The Carter Center, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, Georgia’s largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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