The University of Arizona offers several campus services for students, staff and community members who ride bicycles, including a free repair shop and two free valet locations.
The campus Bicycle Repair Shop is operated by a partnership between Parking and Transportation Services and Campus Recreation. The free shop offers flat tire assistance, brake adjustments, tire pressure checks and more.
The repair shop can be found outside of the Nugent building and is open Monday-Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
PTS also offers valet parking for bicycles at two locations. There is one in front of the Nugent building next to the repair shop and one north of Helen Street on the Warren bike path. These valets provides campus-goers a safer and more secure way to park a bike on campus than leaving it locked to unattended bike racks.
The valet services are open Monday-Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. If a bike is not picked up by 6 p.m. it will be moved to a different location, which may also result in an overnight fee, according to the rules and guidelines listed on the PTS website.
All bikes must be registered to use these campus services, which can be done online at parking.arizona.edu/bicycle/registration. Those interested in registering a bike will be asked to provide the make and model of the bike, its color, style and serial number.
According to Mark Mellott, the coordinator of the Outdoor Recreation program at Campus Recreation, the busyness of the bike station varies throughout each semester.
“During the beginning of the semester, the station sees approximately 50 bikes per day. Near the end of the semester, the station sees about 10 people per day,” Mellot said.
The bike station, which first opened in spring 2018, according to Mellot, also encourages students to use bicycles to get around campus more often.
“The bike station is part of Outdoor Rec’s larger vision of providing students with access to affordable, environmentally-friendly transportation and service,” Mellott said.
Outdoor Rec also launched its new bike rental program, which provides affordable commuter bike rentals to students for the entire semester.
The cost is $70 per semester or $135 per year, and includes a lock and one free tune-up per semester.
To find more information about bicycles and bike programs on campus contact go to parking.arizona.edu/bicycle.
*Raymond Moreno is a student studying at the University of Arizona School of Journalism taking the JOUR 306: Advanced Reporting class.
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