Free Bikes! Big Blue Cycles and Semester Bike Lottery Applications Open

LEXINGTON, KY. (May 13, 2019) — Coming back to campus in the fall and need a bike? Transportation Services has two programs to give students and/or employees free bike rentals.  

Big Blue Cycles

The Big Blue Cycles program has a fleet of more than 150 bicycles available exclusively to students living in campus housing who sign a one year car-free commitment which restricts them from purchasing a parking permit. Students selected for the program will have the bicycle for the entire academic year. 

Big Blue Cycles, under the umbrella of the Wildcat Wheels Bicycle Library, are commuter-style, 8-speed bicycles equipped with fenders, a lock, a helmet and a bell. 

If more than 150 students apply for the bikes, a random drawing will be used to select the students who will receive a Big Blue Cycle. Returning residents who held a parking permit the previous year will receive priority consideration. 

The application deadline is Friday, July 26. You can apply online here.

Wildcat Wheels Bicycle Library Fall 2019 Semester Bike Lottery

For those who don’t meet the requirements of the Big Blue Cycles fleet, Wildcat Wheels has 100 bicycles that can be checked out at no cost for a full semester at a time. Since demand for these bikes often exceeds supply, distribution of the bikes is handled through a random lottery. 

The lottery is open to all University of Kentucky students and employees. The application deadline is Friday, July 26. You can apply online here. 

In addition to Big Blue Cycles and the fall semester bike lottery, Wildcat Wheels Bicycle Library also has bicycles that may be checked out by students and employees free of charge over the summer, and those are available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Wildcat Wheels also operates a free, education-based bike shop to assist the campus community with bicycle maintenance and repair. The shop's summer hours are Tuesday/Thursday 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesday/Friday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wildcat Wheels is funded by University of Kentucky Transportation Services. 

UK Transportation Services strives to improve the quality of life on campus by offering responsive, sustainable and reliable access to infrastructure and mobility solutions. To learn more about transportation options, follow Transportation Services on Twitter @UKParking, or visit us online at www.uky.edu/transportation.