Big Blue Wheels: Pick your ride Wednesday, Oct. 4
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 29, 2023) — Buses, bikes and Bird e-scooters will take the spotlight noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the William T. Young Library Circle, located across from the 90 on Hilltop Avenue. Stop by this free event to explore sustainable transportation options and snag some swag.
Representatives from the Lexington Transit Authority (Lextran), Bird electronic-scooters and UK Transportation Services’ Wildcat Wheels will be on-site to share information and giveaways.
Lextran is the university’s partner in providing campus bus service, as well as free citywide transit for students and staff. Lextran staff can answer any questions you may have about on- and off-campus bus services and routes.
“Lextran is proud to partner with the University of Kentucky to provide alternative transportation options for the UK community on campus and around the city,” said Emily Elliott, community relations manager for Lextran. “We’re always excited for an opportunity to come together to share multimodal transportation options and how we all work together to move people and our community.”
Representatives from Bird, UK’s e-scooter vendor; will also be at the event to share safety tips and offer free scooter rides to students. Bird is an electric vehicle company founded in 2017. Its on-demand mobility solutions are available in more than 350 cities, primarily across the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
On campus, Bird is responsible for deploying and redistributing shared-use e-scooters. In addition to free rides and safety tips, Bird representatives will have free helmets for students, while they last.
"The University of Kentucky is a vibrant, forward-thinking campus, and we’re thrilled to provide our services here,” said Austin Marshburn, senior director, Government Partnerships at Bird. “We’re committed to not only providing an exceptional riding experience but also to be a great partner with the campus, working together to provide a safe and reliable transportation solution.”
In addition to having Lextran and Bird resources on-site, students will also be able to pedal their own fruit smoothie on the Wildcat Wheels’ smoothie bike and grab a free snack to go with it!
Make plans now to stop by and explore your sustainable transportation options. For more information about UK Transportation Services, visit their website.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.