U. of Denver Students Start Bike Program With the City

Robert Coombe, chancellor of the University of Denver, and John Hickenlooper, mayor of Denver, celebrate the beginning of a bike-sharing program started by two students, Mary Jean O’Malley and Zoee Turrill, at right. (University of Denver photo)

USA Today recently featured a story about two recent University of Denver graduates who have started a “bike library” for students at the university, which will serve as a pilot for a bike-sharing program for the city of Denver starting next spring. The story says that 600 bikes will be placed at 40 kiosks around the city, with two kiosks at the University of Denver.

The students, Mary Jean O’Malley and Zoee Turrill, got the help of the student senate and some university departments to raise $50,000 to start the program. (It’s not clear what the city will contribute to the program.) A university spokesman said that to his knowledge, this was the first time a university had formed a partnership with a city to create a bike program.