25 October 2010

Students to collect 'wheely' good value bikes

Photo opportunity: 11am - 5pm on Tuesday, 26th October at Campus Green, University of Dundee. Students will be getting their hands on bikes provided by the BikeBoost scheme.

One hundred students from the Universities of Dundee and Abertay will this week take possession of cut-price new bicycles courtesy of a scheme to promote the health and environmental benefits of cycling.

Over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, the successful applicants to the BikeBoost scheme will collect their new bikes from representatives of Dundee Travel Active and Get Cycling, who teamed up to deliver the programme to students in the city.

All students from the Universities of Dundee and Abertay over the age of 18 were eligible to take part. They were invited to borrow a good quality bike and accessories for five weeks. The organisers of the BikeBoost scheme asked for a £75 deposit and, at the end of the loan period, the bike can be kept in exchange for the deposit, less than a fifth of the £412 value of the bike and equipment.

BikeBoost aims to encourage the use of bikes in the course of everyday activities like travelling to and from college or university. In addition to providing regular exercise, it also enables the user to cut their carbon footprint by reducing the number of journeys by car.

Trudy Cunningham, Green Travel Convenor at the University of Dundee, said, 'We were delighted with the response from students. The scheme was heavily oversubscribed so we had to go through all applications and give priority to those who are new to cycling in Dundee or whose primary form of transport is currently private car or public transport.

'Being a city centre campus, walking and cycling are the most convenient and accessible ways for students to travel within Dundee. It’s also good for your health as well as the environment, and we’d encourage as many people as possible to give cycling a try.'

James Nicholson, Head of Student Services at the University of Abertay Dundee, said: 'There was a fantastic response from students, and everyone picked for one of these bikes will save money and improve their health at the same time.

'Dundee is a perfect city for cycling, as our campus is so close to the accommodation and the city centre. We look forward to seeing lots of students riding around on their new bikes!'

The BikeBoost organisers will be at the University of Dundee campus to hand over bikes to lucky recipients between 11am and 5pm on Tuesday, 26th October, and at Abertay between 11am and 5pm on Wednesday, 27th October.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277