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The university is offering the deal to discourage the use of vehicles on campus by incoming students.

By JOHN RICHARDSON, Staff Writer August 22, 2008

The University of New England is offering free bicycles to resident freshmen who agree not to bring cars to campus this fall.

The giveaway -- one of the first like it in the country -- is part of an effort to ease the competition for parking spots, especially on the main campus in Biddeford, and encourage more sustainable transportation, said Barbara Hazard, vice president for student affairs and dean of students.

"We just have far too many cars on campus and we were going to have to look at putting in another parking lot," Hazard said. "Our goal here really is to shift a culture."

A growing number of U.S. colleges are trying to get students on bikes, usually by offering free bike-loan programs, trails and other incentives.

Bowdoin College in Brunswick, for example, plans to ban freshmen from bringing cars to school starting next year. It also has a bike-loan program and bike-storage facilities.

Bowdoin and UNE also are among the colleges providing access to Zipcars, which are cars or SUVs available 24 hours a day for students and faculty to use for an hourly fee.

UNE, however, is one of the first American schools to give away bikes as an incentive. Ripon College, a small liberal arts school in Wisconsin, is another.

UNE's program is a combination stick and carrot.

The school jacked up the cost of parking permits for freshmen from $80 last year to $300 this year. On the other hand, it offered any freshman living on the main campus and willing to leave a car at home the choice of a free hybrid bike, bike helmet and lock, or 28 prepaid hours of time in one of two new Zipcars.

Use of Zipcars -- Honda CRVs in this case -- will cost $7 an hour after that.

So far, 110 freshmen have asked for the bikes. The school expects 115 to go for the Zipcar deal.

"There are 225 of the students that are saying, 'I'm not bringing a car.' That's a decent impact for us," Hazard said. "A lot more students opted for this than I thought would."

That amounts to nearly half of the 478 freshmen planning to live on the Biddeford campus this fall.

Bikes also have been offered to the incoming resident freshmen on the school's Westbrook College campus in Portland, although the need and the interest are smaller, Hazard said. A handful of students have either signed up for bikes or for taxi service vouchers.

Brandon Gillard, the owner of Cape-Able Bike Shop in Kennebunkport, is supplying UNE with Gary Fisher Tiburon bikes, a hybrid that's designed for trails and roads. The bikes retail for about $450, although the school will pay a little less than $300 for each bike, helmet and lock. The higher parking fees will help cover the costs of the bikes and the other incentives -- more than $50,000 in all.

Cape-Able plans to deliver the bikes on Aug. 29, the day before students begin arriving on campus, and will return to do some initial maintenance.

Gillard praised UNE for trying to reduce traffic and its carbon footprint while also encouraging healthy exercise. "It's extremely creative," he said.

UNE is somewhat isolated near the Biddeford Pool peninsula, about four miles from downtown Biddeford. Hazard said she hopes students will ride downtown or put their bikes on a shuttle bus that is expanding service this fall. It carries students between campus and the downtown and shopping areas.

UNE officials and the school's bike club also plan to encourage freshmen to ride for recreation, perhaps on the nearby Eastern Trail. "We'll do a little bit for our wellness program, too," Hazard said.

She said that although some students need to bring their cars to school because of jobs or other circumstances, she's pleased with the response from students.

"They're excited about it, and the parents are thrilled," Hazard said. "It's a heavy cost nowadays to have a car."

Kiel Hiller, an incoming freshman from Galloway, N.J., said he probably...