Northeastern University has its own cycling community. However, until the year 2013, there was no location that could’ve been said to be the community’s own place to work on their cycles. It was in January 2013 that the university’s facilities staff decided to give the cyclists their own bike repair stand.
This stand is simply self-service and stands proudly beneath the archway of the north tower of West Village A. The funds to purchase this stand came from the Renewable Energy Fund, where many students are willingly seen to volunteer the deposit funds from their pocket money. The Fund is owned by the Student Government Association (SGA).
Mary Corrado is the SGA’s assistant vice president and had much to talk about it. “We’re very excited about this,” said Corrado. “This is a low-cost way to empower bicyclists and encourage a sustainable form of transportation to and from campus.”
The stand is a hefty four-foot-tall one and can hold one bicycle at one time. It proudly claims that it has all the tools that are used for daily fix-its, right down to the pump used to fill the cycle’s tires. The stand is actually much more advanced than is thought – it is technologically aided as well. There exists a QR code in front of it that, when scanned by the phone, allows the users to get their cycle’s maintenance reports and further instructions.
Alex Scott, the outgoing president of the NU Cycling club, put forth the idea for this stand. This Cycling club I seen organising bike maintenance seminars, workshops, and other related activities. Since Boston is becoming cycle-friendly slowly but steadily, Scott observed that Northeastern Campus also saw an increase in the usage of cycles by the students. This stand, therefore, seemed to be a sound investment.
“What it comes down to is this: if you buy a bike but don’t know how to maintain it, you’re less likely to ride it,” Scott said. “People don’t realise how simple some bike maintenance can be until they know how to do it.”
Pranjali Wakde