Free UK Bicycle Registration Required

By Chrissie Balding Tune, Parking and Transportation Services

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 20, 2009) – The University of Kentucky now requires that everyone who parks a bicycle on campus obtain and display a valid bicycle permit. Parking & Transportation Services (PTS) registers bicycles that will be on campus and issues bicycle permits. The free permits are decals that adhere to the bike. There are no registration fees associated with this program.

The university regulation includes bicycles belonging to full-time, part-time and temporary employees, full-time and part-time students, and children of UK students and employees who park a child’s bicycle on campus. Visitors – especially frequent visitors – are also encouraged to obtain bicycle permits.

Bike permits are now available at http://www.uky.edu/Parking/services-parking-account-manager.html. Bike owners should have the following information on hand when registering to obtain a decal: serial number, bicycle color(s) and name brand/manufacturer. Once the customer has signed into the account using their linkblue credentials, they will see “bike permit” as an option under the “available permits” section. Upon completion of the application, PTS will mail the permit to the customer. Bike permits should be adhered to the seat tube, approximately 8 inches from the bottom, facing the front of the bicycle.

"Bicycle use on campus has grown 37 percent in the last decade," said Don Thornton, director of Parking & Transportation Services. "We are very excited about the benefits that the bicycle permit program has to offer cyclists and the campus community as a whole."

Those benefits include a reduction in bicycle theft and an increase in bicycle theft recovery, data for planning future bicycle initiatives, and the ability to target bicycle users with bicycle-related safety information, news and services. The registration program will also reduce costs to cyclists by allowing PTS to issue citations to some illegally parked bikes, rather than cutting the locks. Finally, improved bike facilities on campus will ideally lead to an increase in bike use, which will have environmental benefits extending beyond the UK campus.

In conjunction with bicycle registration, Wildcat Wheels Bicycle Library is offering bicycle education and the chance to win prizes by visiting a short survey on bike education. Bicyclists who register their bike and complete the survey will have the opportunity to get a free LED bike light and be entered in a drawing for a new commuter bicycle.

“Other than walking, cycling is the most ecologically friendly mode of campus transportation,” according to Shane Tedder, founder and coordinator of the Wildcat Wheels Bicycle Library. “While cyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as motorists, many cyclists either ignore or are unaware of those responsibilities.  This education component, in conjunction with the bicycle registration program, is designed to introduce campus cyclists to safe cycling practices and the rules of the road. Hopefully this will result in a more predictable cycling community, which will lead to a safer campus for everyone."

Bicycle permits may be obtained at Parking Structure #6 (721 Press Avenue), Parking Structure #5 (located next to Kennedy Book Store) or 110 Transcript Avenue (UK HealthCare Parking Garage). Permits will be available online.

You may go online for more information on UK’s bicycle policies and registration or UK Parking & Permit Regulations. Members of the university community are encouraged to follow news about campus parking and transportation, including bikes, on UK Parking's Twitter site.