In the final of a series of votes, the Associated Students of Occidental College (ASOC) Senate unanimously elected to make Bike Share a student service, effective from the beginning of the fall 2014 semester. The Senate took a week after hearing Bike Share’s proposal to receive feedback from constituents before voting. At the end of this semester, ASOC will finalize Bike Share’s new budget.
“I think the unanimous vote reflects the time that Bike Share put into the application,” ASOC Vice President of Internal Affairs and politics major John O’Neill (senior) said.
The decision contributes to O’Neill’s campaign promise to help students get off campus with more ease and energy efficiency. He has worked closely with members of Bike Share over the past two semesters to both create a process for making it a student service and see it pass through ASOC.
According to O’Neill, ASOC senators are tentatively looking into approving a $20,000 budget, roughly twice what Bike Share currently receives. This is the second-largest of three budgets that Bike Share proposed to ASOC. It would allow Bike Share to increase its hours to be open daily, which Bike Share members presented as a priority in their proposal to ASOC. Bike Share’s current and future sources of funding are outlined in a previous article in The Occidental Weekly.
Bike Share plans to use the current resources available from the ASOC Renewable Energy and Sustainability Fund to increase the number of bikes in its fleet. In the coming weeks, members plan to send a request for funding for more bikes, according to Bike Share manager and geology major Robin Bruns (junior).
Bruns began working for Bike Share as a first-year and has contributed to its growth ever since.
“I’m thrilled,” Bruns said. “Bike Share becoming a student service will help the school a lot. Oxy talks a lot about being engaged with the community, and I think that this will make it possible for a whole lot more students to explore Highland Park, Eagle Rock and the Los Angeles area.”
