BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Louisiana State University students will have a new way of getting around campus this fall. Gotcha plans to introduce its fleet of pedal assist bicycles to Baton Rouge July 11 with about 50 locations around the city. Those interested in attending the public launch event can click here for more information.
The LSU campus will be home to a dozen of these locations. Students will have exclusive access to discounted subscriptions to use the bikes around campus.
Gotcha is a company focused on improving people's lives through sustainable shared mobility. Their bike sharing system has been running in many major cities and universities around the country.
In order to participate in this program, riders will have to download the Gotcha app on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Once the app is downloaded, it will take users through the sign up process and will allow access to the Gotcha fleet.
The LSU hub locations are as follows:
- Kirby Smith Hall
- Veterans Drive at LSU Faculty Club
- Skip Bertman Drive & Veterinary Medicine
- Nicholson Gateway
- Locket Hall
- Tower Drive at LSU Student Union
- Lod Cook Alumni Center
- Broussard Hall
- East Laville Hall
- S Campus Drive at UREC
- Business Education Complex & Patrick F. Taylor Hall
- West Parker Boulevard Lot
Pricing
The standard price for renting one of Gotcha's bikes is $2 to unlock the bike from the hub and an additional $0.10 per hour until it's returned to the hub.
Students, however, are given a special pricing option for the program. Gotcha offers advanced payment plans for those looking to use the bikes more frequently.
For students, these advanced payment subscriptions will cost $59.99 per year or $6.99 per month. These plans allow for unlimited unlocks and one free hour of riding per day. An additional charge of $0.10 will be added for each additional hour a bike is used per day.
Many current LSU students were polled on their opinions about the upcoming program.
A poll was sent out to LSU students that explained the basics of Gotcha and its system. The poll asked whether or not they were interested in taking part in it. Seventy-two current students provided their opinion on the bike sharing program.
The results skewed positive with a majority of the group expressing a curious interest in the program.
One student who is a senior majoring in Animal Sciences says they will probably take advantage of the program because "walking across campus can be far and take a long time, so biking would be more convenient. I also drive a small car, so I can't transport my own bike to campus."
Another student, who is a junior majoring in Biology, is not sure if they will be using the program. "I don’t know if I want to pay to use a bike when I can walk for free or take the bus for free."
Students were also asked if they thought the pricing of the program was fair.
The results were overwhelmingly positive with 75% of the polled students saying the price was fair and affordable.
One student who is a Sociology junior says "Two dollars plus ten cents every hour is a great price for transportation, and the yearly or monthly prices are just as convenient."
However, one Mass Communication senior says they are more skeptical about the pricing. "Asking students to pay $6o for a yearly subscription seems ambitious. We are students, and that might be too much."
What do you think about the Gotcha bike share program? Head over to Facebook to let us know your thoughts.
Click here for more information on Gotcha.
Copyright 2019 WAFB. All rights reserved.