Inspecting the green fixed-up bike she'd leased from the MSU Bike Project on Tuesday night, Ute Rossler was thankful to have received a bike at all.
When she tried to lease a bike the week before, the international student from Germany was turned away because there weren't enough to hand out. Demand is so high for bikes that the project has between 40 and 50 people on a waiting list, said Tim Potter, a bike project volunteer and faculty member.
"It's a good program to have," Rossler said, adding that because she's an international student she doesn't have access to her own car.
The MSU Bike Project is a volunteer-run program that leases fixed-up, donated or impounded bikes to MSU students and faculty for a small donation.
The suggested donation for a used bike and a bike lock is $30.
In its third year, the project has already leased 146 bikes since the summer and will continue to lease bikes throughout the semester, Potter said.
On Tuesday night, the project's bike supply was leased out in less than half an hour.
Project volunteers were surprised by the popularity of the program, Potter said.
"Last week we had about 50 people show up but only 15 bikes ready to donate," Potter said.
Part of the problem of meeting a higher demand is that the project is struggling to get enough volunteers to help fix bikes.
It is going to take more people donating their bikes and time to fulfill the high demand, Potter said.
"We hope that more and more students will donate bikes to us instead of leaving them on campus to be impounded," he said.
Another problem is fewer than 20 people returned the nearly 110 bikes leased to faculty members and students last semester, said Gus Gosselin, director of building services and project volunteer.
"We have not been very good at getting them back," Gosselin said. "We have been thinking of a way to make sure we get them back.
"We saw some of the bikes that we leased in the impound lot."
A frequent customer of the bike project, doctoral student Chueh-An Hsieh took advantage of the bike repairs and advice about bike care provided.
"This is my third time coming here to get my bike fixed and I would come back because they are helpful and the prices are reasonable," Hsieh said.
Some people who wanted bikes for campus were turned away on Tuesday and told to come back next week.
"My schedule is very tight and zipping through campus is easier," said kinesiology doctoral student Nicole Forrester. Although she went home from Tuesday's bike giveaway empty-handed, she said she will try again next week.
The bike project holds a bike donation campaign at the end of each semester. The group also sets up fenced areas where people can leave their bikes for future riders, Potter said.
In the meantime, students or faculty members can register for a bike on the project's Web site and wait for more bikes to arrive, Gosselin said.
"We try not to let people bring us down," Gosselin said. "We look at the good the program brings and we just keep on keeping on."
To register or learn more information about the MSU Bike Project, visit www.bikes.msu.edu.
