In December of 2005, a heap of bicycles were reclaimed from university surplus before the surplus sale for use in the Community Sharing Bike Program (CSBP), a joint service dream up by the Environmental Campus Organization and the Mountain Biking Club. In the time leading up to the spring, a small group worked to create the infrastructure and relationships needed to begin the envisioned program. One loan mechanic created Frankenstein bikes from taking parts from some to fix up others. Thus began the fleet that would be the yellow bikes of the CSBP. The coordinators found organizations to sponsor the bikes for $10, which would cover the cost of helmets and locks. At the kick off event, the sponsors gathered to paint the bikes yellow and decorate them with their organization's name. At this event and in the spring following, we received around 200 registration forms. Soon, the bikes went to the Residential Halls where they were available for loan to those who were registered through a system similar to a library card (submit the card, get the key from the front desk, ride, return bike, receive card). Students were excited about renting bikes and soon yellow bikes could be seen around campus and in the community.
However, after the spring and summer of 2006, members began to see an obvious glitch in the program. The bikes we started with were already in poor disrepair and their condition continued to worsen through use and weathering. In order to preserve faith in the safety of program, we pulled the bikes from the campus until they could be repaired and maintained. The Community Sharing Bike Program required more commitment than the partner organizations could provide, so it applied for individual organizational status for the primary coordination. Thus, the Bike CO-OP was founded with the primary mission to establish a space on campus for bike repair and for students teaching students and community members how to repair their own bikes.
With a better understanding of the challenges of starting the program as well as the needs of the campus that the CO-OP could fulfill, we approached Truman's administrative staff. This began an academic year (2006-2007) of meetings where the administration identified their areas of concern as the CO-OP worked to address their objections. We heard most commonly "this has never been done before, there is no precedence to guide our decisions," resulting in a lot of stalling.
At this time, the CO-OP went back to how it was founded, as a joint effort with multiple stakeholders. We solicited letters of support from students, faculty, staff, and community members; we collected signatures from many more people in support of the program. In the meantime, we sought out relationships with organizations and university departments that stood to directly benefit from involvement in the program. And so, the Bike CO-OP program and workshop space initiative became more than one organization, but the joint effort of many. In this way, Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) got on board, helping compose a business plan (at the administration's request) and committed to take on the project as their outreach assignment. Since then, they have also posted a survey on Truview and are currently working on compiling the data from responses. Residential Living has supported us from the get go, allowing us to run the loan program through the hall desks. They see how the students who live on campus, especially those without cars, stand to benefit from the CO-OP services and also how increased bike usage means less frustration over lack of enough parking spaces. Student Senate has backed the CO-OP's proposal through passing resolutions in support of space allocation and generous start up funding. In Fall 2007, they initiated a joint endeavor with the Student Activity Board (SAB) to co-sponsor a Band Fest on the Quad to generate student interest and support for the CO-OP. Other stakeholders include: ECO, the Mountain Biking Club, the Health and Exercise Science Department, the Student Recreational Center, the International Club, and the Environmental Studies Minor committee.
Updated March, 2008