SPEARFISH, S.D. – Black Hills State University is promoting a new way to get around campus and explore Spearfish thanks to a new bike rental service located in front of the Donald E. Young Center. Students, staff, faculty, and community members can rent bicycles through the company Black Hills Bike Share, an automated bike rental service that makes renting a bike easy and affordable.
The idea for a bike rental service on campus was created by Dr. Breon Derby, associate professor at BHSU and founder of Black Hills Bike Share, as an accessible and economical way to rent bikes and explore Spearfish. Derby says that she hopes the bikes will help prioritize wellness. “Having bikes on campus promotes physical activity, environmental wellness, and positive socialization,” said Derby. The bike station on campus provides a solution for those who want to ride bikes but cannot own personal bikes because of cost and storage barriers.
The rates of renting a bike are $8 per hour or 14 cents per minute. Bikes can be rented through the Movatic smart phone app. The process is made simple by the app, which allows users to locate bike stations and pay for the bike rental from their smart phones. Once users are done exploring, the bike can be returned to any docking station. In addition to the location on campus, Black Hill Bike Share has a docking station in the Spearfish City Park.
This is Black Hills Bike Share’s second season of operation at their city park location. “In that time, we have had over 1,200 rentals,” Derby said. “Our BHSU station became available less than a week ago, and we expect great success.”
