The Ceremony for beginning 'Public Bicycle' was held at 11am on the 30th
YU is Selected for public bicycle system construction project by MOPAS, national funding of 200 million won
[October 30, 2012]
At 11am on the 30th, YU held the 'Ceremony for Beginning the 2012 Public Bicycle system Construction' in order to promote the use of bicycles at its front gate, upgrading it to 'Green Campus'.
The ceremony for beginning 'Public Bicycle system Construction' is being held at the front gate of the YU campus in the morning of the 30th. The 'University Public bicycle construction project' overseen by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security(MOPAS) aims at spreading the use of bicycles in universities and in the society by promoting bicycles, which are transportation methods that emit no carbon, as a major transportation method. It accepted applications from April and 3 universities in Korea, including YU, were selected for this project.
Thus, YU received national funding of 200 million won. With these funds, the university purchased 100 public bicycles, installed 195 slots for parking bicycles, and will begin pilot operations for renting bicycles starting from the middle of last month. In order to ensure safety and prevent theft, bike parking lots and ramps were established over an area of 1,000㎡, while also installing 6 security cameras.
In addition, it is planning to construct a bicycle road together with Gyeongsan City and installing bike parking lots at major public transportation stations to promote the use of public bicycles with the cooperation of local governments.
Through this, YU is expecting to increase the use of bicycles, which is currently at 2.76%, to 5% by 2016.
At this ceremony, YU President Lee, Hyo-soo forecasted, "With the opening of the extension of the Gyeongsan line (subway line 2) in September, bicycle use will increase in school," while adding, "YU will also continue to show interest and make efforts to become a green campus by supporting students to use public bicycles to get to school so that they may exercise, while also reducing carbon emissions."
YU students are riding public bicycles in campus on the 30th. Lee, Chan-hee (24), a sophomore in the School of Business who participated in the ceremony on behalf of the students, said, "Four green campus leaders of YU, which is part of the Korean Association for Green Campus Initiative, are providing volunteer services everyday from 8 to 9 in the morning to show how to borrow and use the public bicycles." He added, "I hope that people will realize the cleanness and convenience of bicycles as a carbon-free method of transportation and used more by not only YU students but the community as well. Also, I hope that YU will become a university that sets an example for green campus."
Meanwhile, at this event, YU President Lee, Hyo-soo, professors, MOPAS Bicycle Policy Division director Kim, Ki-young, and Gyeongsangbuk-do Division of Urban Planning director Kim, Sang-dong, as well as 50 students participated in the event to congratulate the official launching of the Public Bicycle project.
