Fun, free, environmentally responsible transportation for all. Sounds pretty good, eh? For the last two and a half years, the Bicycle Taxi provided just that kind of service to the University community.
After the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, David Niles, a bicycle enthusiast, brought the program to the University. He came to Eugene because he saw the importance of bicycles to this city, and he wanted to make responsible transportation even more accessible. The Department of Public Safety (OPS at that time) administrates transportation issues on campus, and thus David Niles’ Bicycle Taxi program was placed under its jurisdiction.
At the end of spring term 2000, David Niles left OPS, and since then, the Bicycle Taxi has been unable to provide a valuable and needed transportation alternative to students. The taxi benefits all members of the University.
Last year, students who need to be picked up from the Greyhound or Amtrak stations could call Bicycle Taxi and have a ride within 15 minutes. The taxi provided an alternative to the other university transportation services, such as DDS and Saferide. When Bicycle Taxi was operating, students who were not intoxicated yet tempted to call DDS for a ride home could choose to call the taxi. Students who would opt to call Saferide also had an alternative in the Bicycle Taxi. Because the use of these two valuable programs is extensive and there can often be a wait before pick-up, many students came to rely upon the Bicycle Taxi for their evening commutes.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the Bicycle Taxi program was that it provided service during the day. This daytime service was primarily for injured or disabled students who had difficulty making it on time from one class to the next. The taxi was the only program that could assist these students. Now, without the program, injured and disabled students have little or no assistance to and from their classes and homes.
The most attractive part of reinstating the Bicycle Taxi program is that the University already has the pedicab. The pedicab, last year’s most visible piece of the program, is the big, yellow super-tricycle that transported small groups of students all over Eugene. Many students enjoyed riding the pedicab, which was easier to ride than a tandem or triplet bicycle and was thought by more than few to resemble a romantic carriage.
When former Bicycle Taxi employees and riders learned that the program would no longer be running, an effort was started to bring the program back. The Bicycle Taxi Advocates have been meeting regularly to re-establish the taxi. Now we are asking for your support. On Thursday and Friday, Nov. 16 and 17, we will be tabling in the EMU Amphitheater. At this time, we will have a statement of support available for you to sign.
Only with your support can we convince the department that owns the pedicab of the importance of the Bicycle Taxi to the University community. Let’s make sure that the pedicab is used for its intended purpose: providing fun, free, environmentally responsible transportation to all.