Photo by G. L. Kohuth Terry Link, director of the Office of Campus Sustainability, displays one of the bicycles that was refurbished for use in the MSU Bike Project.

With the promise of spring in the air, a group of faculty and staff is hopeful that it can improve employee health, reduce pollution and reduce motorized traffic on campus beginning in May.

The MSU Bike Project, a subcommittee of the University Committee for a Sustainable Campus, will be collecting and restoring bikes to be leased to departments for use around campus beginning in May, which is also National Bike Month.

Gus Gosselin, maintenance supervisor at the Physical Plant and a bicycle enthusiast, brought the idea forward.

It is based upon similar programs at other universities including the University of Wisconsin, University of British Columbia and the University of Rhode Island.

“I’m hopeful we can get more of us out of our cars and onto bikes around campus during the nice weather,” said Gosselin, who rides to campus from Perry regularly from May to September.

The bikes will be painted bright yellow and will be available to be checked out to interested departments. Bikes can be used by department personnel to move around campus or to simply go for a nice ride on a beautiful day. They will come with locks and optional helmets.

Any administrators, faculty or staff who have a bike to donate for the project can drop it off between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Physical Plant Maintenance Services Department offices.

Bikes will be inspected to make sure they are in working order. Bikes deemed unusable will be recycled for parts.

Those interested in getting bikes for their departments or volunteering to help get bikes in shape should contact Terry Link, director of the Office of Campus Sustainability, at 355-1751 or e-mail him at link@msu.edu.

Copyright 2001 Michigan State University Division of University Relations.