October 28, 2019
New Bikes on Campus, Universal Access for University ID Holders
ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 28, 2019) The University at Albany has reached an agreement with the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA), which administers CDPHP Cycle!, allowing anyone with a UAlbany ID card to use the program’s bikes at no charge through at least November 2022.
The arrangement gives the UAlbany community 24/7 free access to the entire CDPHP Cycle! network of 360 bicycles in Albany, Cohoes, Saratoga, Schenectady and Troy. Bikes are available from April through November.
Fifteen new bicycles will be available on the Uptown Campus for students, faculty and staff through the bikeshare program.
“Access to the bikes in the CDPHP Cycle! program not only gives the campus a carbon-free form of transportation, it’s a healthy choice that connects us with nature and the surrounding neighborhoods,” said UAlbany Director of Sustainability Mary Ellen Mallia.
“This is an exciting next step in the evolution of CDPHP Cycle!” said Carm Basile, CDTA CEO. “We are fortunate to have a long-standing and strong partnership with UAlbany which has led us to this new CDPHP Cycle! access agreement. This is another way we are widening and expanding the mobility options for the UAlbany community to connect with the Capital Region.”
The 15 CDPHP bikes on the Uptown Campus will be initially stationed at Collins Circle, Empire Commons and the Campus Center. The Campus Center station is operational now through the end of this riding season in November, while the other two locations will be installed in early Spring 2020.
“We’re thrilled that the University at Albany has partnered with CDTA to expand campus access to CDPHP Cycle! as a convenient, healthier mode of transportation,” said Dr. John D. Bennett, president and CEO of CDPHP.
Mallia and Jason M. Jones, director of UAlbany’s Parking and Mass Transit Services, became involved in the regional bikeshare initiative in 2014. That initiative, combined with a partnership between CDTA and CDPHP, led to the creation of CDPHP Cycle! in 2017.
UAlbany’s Downtown Campus and Alumni Quad both had bikeshare stations placed nearby, and more than 300 members of the University community signed up for bike share access in 2017-18.
The program expanded to the Uptown Campus in 2018, when CDTA added a CDPHP Cycle! station with five bikes just south of the Campus Center.
Later that year Jones and Mallia sought input on the bikeshare program from the University community, including Campus Recreation, Campus Planning, Purchasing, students and members of the senior administration. That led to the new agreement with CDTA, allowing the UAlbany community full access to the bikeshare program. The agreement is similar to the Universal Access transit agreement, which gives UAlbany ID holders free access to CDTA buses.
“We are thrilled to bring CDPHP Cycle! to the University. This further strengthens our relationship with CDTA while providing another mobility option to our campus community,” Jones said.
To register for the bikeshare program, visit http://www.cdphpcycle.com , scroll to "Unlock Your Access", find UAlbany and register using your albany.edu email address.