Free Bikes To Cut Down On Cars? Whodathunkit?

What an absolutely fantastic idea this is. Ripon College in Wisconsin is offering incoming freshman free Trek bicycles if they pledge to not drive to campus for the first year. The school is giving away 200 bikes, helmets and locks in exchange for a no car promise.

How cool is this. Everyone wins (except of course for the poor kid who has to bicycle to school in a blizzard, but I digress). The school doesn't need to come up with new parking, the kids get more excercise, the bike lock and helmet companies get free advertising and product recognition, and a significant amount of CO2 is taken out of the equation. I love this!

A similar thought occurred to me the other day as I was riding the bus. How great would it be for the gov. to lower bus fairs as gas prices rise? Right off the bat, it would help the poor who make up the largest numbers of bus riders, but slowly over time, I think it would encourage others to start taking the bus rather than driving.

Bottom line is I think that incentives to ride bikes or use mass transit are in order to help get us off of oil and onto the next level.

My two cents and huzzah to Ripon.

Live Sustainably

Dave