Zagster bike sharing program promotes fitness

Gabrielle Brawner
MC Contributor/Staff Writer

The Zagster bike sharing program is promoting health, fitness and a fun way to commute around campus for Jackson State University students.

The program, which is a part of the “1 Fit JSU” initiative, made its debut at Jackson State in September.

The primary purpose of the Zagster program, according to Mark Dickerson, JSU Recreation Complex Assistant Director, is to promote a fun way to travel and exercise.

“We received a grant originally from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Mississippi and originally in that grant there was a piece of it that was for a bike share program,” said Dickerson.

He added: “So we looked at it and we tried to do it in-house first and then we looked at other national programs such as Zagster and said this is a great way to facilitate fitness activities while also providing students with transportation from one side of the campus to the other.”

There are currently 12 bikes available for use in the program.

Students can find the bikes at Zagster check-in/check-out stations located in front of the Student Center, JSU Recreation Complex, and the John A. Peoples building.

The service is free for the first two hours and $3 for every additional hour.

According to pedbikeinfo.org, bike sharing is an innovative transportation program.

In bike sharing, short distance point-to-point trips provide users the ability to pick up a bicycle at any self-serve bike-station and return it to any other bike station located within the system’s service area.

Not only are the bikes helping students zip through campus, but they are also helping students get proper exercise without even realizing it.

“The bikes are a way to break from the monotony of the gym and have a fun free workout,” said Keleigh Williams, a junior psychology major from Sierra Vista, Ariz.

To rent the bikes, students must go to their provider’s mobile app store and download the Zagster app.

After following the directions and providing credit card information, students must find the bicycle located at a Zagster dock and enter the bike’s number into the app and press, START RIDE.

They are then given a code to the lockbox.  Once done with the bike, the students must return the bike to a Zagster dock and close the lockbox.

They must then go back to the app and enter, END RIDE.

After your two free hours are up, the app will charge $3 for every hour after that.

Shane Savannah contributed to this story.

Photos by William Kelly.