The Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College has an E-bike loan program for students, staff and faculty designed to provide reliable transportation to campus and other essential services.

Artemis Eyster, coordinator of the E-bike program at the Environmental Center, said the program began in the 2021-2022 academic year. They started off with only five bikes, but have since grown to 26 total bikes, according to Eyster. 

Eyster said that within the total bike count, 15 of them are reserved for students and the other 11 are reserved for staff and faculty. 

Eyster said they had a donor last summer who gave the program the 11 bikes reserved for staff and faculty. 

Eyster mentioned that the bikes donated were new and each is worth around $5000, which is why they choose to reserve them for staff and faculty for now. 

Students apply for the program by scanning a QR code on flyers that are hung around campus, which leads them to a Microsoft form to fill out, or by visiting the Environmental Center's homepage under the FLC website. 

Applications are based on the criteria of highest priority first, such as students with no vehicle, followed by the lowest priority of students who say they have a vehicle, according to Eyster. 

Eyster also notes that, along with the application process, they factor in ranking based on questions they ask the student, such as whether they live on or off campus, have a job, and what description they provide on how they will use the bike. 

“We’re looking for folks who would use it, like most weekdays, and have a good description all around on how they would use it,” said Eyster. 

Eyster said the recipients receive the E-bike, a charger, a battery, a bike bag, a helmet, a lock and a rain cover.

During the last week of classes of each semester, students return the bikes and other loaned items, which then get logged to ensure all items are present and not damaged, according to Eyster. 

Students who applied for the E-bike loan met with the Environmental Center on Jan. 29 to receive their E-Bikes and were informed on the management of the bike. 

Truman Wallace, E-bike project lead, informs FLC student Haru Shimomura about the maintenance of the E-bike before he can receive the bike.

When talking with students who showed up to receive their bikes, a recurring pattern was mentioned by all: their lack of transportation. 

Haru Shimomura, a foreign exchange student from Japan, said receiving this bike will be helpful, as he normally takes the Durango transit bus to go places. 

Shimomura said he’s excited to go downtown and to the public library, as taking the transit bus would take about an hour. 

Tanisha Rueben, a freshman at FLC, said she has back-to-back classes that are across campus from each other, and having the bike now will help with that. 

Niko Brooks, a senior at FLC, said it’s his third time getting the E-bike and uses it to get to campus from home, which takes him about 15 minutes using the e-bike. 

Brooks said before that he would either take the transit or catch rides with his friends who were heading to campus.

Cameron Puthoff, a student at FLC, said the E-bike has been a huge benefit to him, as he uses it for the roughly 15 minute ride to campus from his home. 

“This has been making a night and day difference for me, making things a lot easier, to go back and forth to the store and also making it to class on time,” said Puthoff. 

Eyster said the program came about from the desire to have a sustainable commuting option, especially for students who live off campus or have an off-campus job. 

“The most rewarding part is hearing from folks who get the bikes and how much they like them or how they get to jobs more efficiently, instead of relying on the bus system,” said Eyster.