An initiative focused on making bicycles more accessible to students was recently launched by the Senior Living Spaces (SLS) cluster and Listen Live & Learn (LLL) residences of Stellenbosch University (SU).
This is according to the project’s lead, Tendani Tshauambea, cluster convenor for the SLS cluster and a member of the Senior Prim Committee at SU.
The Ride a Bike pilot project was officially launched on 22 April and its aim is to utilise Matie Bikes to “get more students on bicycles”, said Tshauambea.
Tendani Tshauambea initiated the Ride a Bike initiative pilot project. Through the initiative, he will strive to increase student mobility and wellness and make Matie Bikes more visible and accessible to all students from Stellenbosch University, said Tshauambea. PHOTO: Jessica Hillier
“The goals of the initiative are to make bicycles more accessible to students, and thus to improve student mobility and increase general wellness,” said Tshauambea. In addition to this, the initiative also aims to teach students how to cycle.
Tshauambea presented a proposal for the initiative to SU’s Centre for Student Communities after he was inspired by a Daily Maverick article about Stellenbosch’s potential for a sustainable transport future.
Ten beneficiaries have thus far been chosen for the project, said Tshauambea. They were chosen from the LLL and SLS communities, and have each received a Matie Bike. The bikes will be returned at the end of the year.
The pilot initiative was launched to assess the impact that these bicycles have on the lives of the beneficiaries in order to allow for future expansion of the project, explained Tshauambea.
The future of the Ride a Bike project
“The idea is that we are going to give each of the seven or eight LLL houses a bicycle, with one member of the house responsible, and then [residents of each of the houses] can make use of it, and those who aren’t sure how to ride can learn,” said Tshauambea.
Matie Bikes have been available for all Stellenbosch University (SU) students to rent since the rental system was established in 2012, according to the sustainability division of the university’s website. By providing the Listen Live & Learn residential houses of SU with a bicycle each, Ride a Bike project lead Tendani Tshauambea hopes that the initiative will increase students’ accessibility to Matie Bikes and improve student mobility. PHOTO: Jessica Hillier
At present, according to the Matie Bike booking system, it costs R2 500 per year to rent a bike from SU, and not many people know about the rental system, which makes it inaccessible, claimed Tshauambea and Leoné Wilkinson, member of the Senior Prim Committee and LLL intern.
“I think it is a great initiative and a way to promote physical wellness as well as awareness of the Matie Bikes that we have available for students and staff on campus. Not everyone on campus is aware of the service that we have and therefore we support such initiatives,” said Roelof Loubser, the mobility manager of SU’s transport services.
“The initiative is more than just giving people bikes. It’s making us think about what we can do to make things more accessible for students, and help them develop new skills,” said Wilkinson.
Beneficiary involvement
Siphiwe Phetla, one of the beneficiaries of the initiative, said that his involvement in the project stems from his love of bicycles. Because Phetla knows how to ride a bike, he explained that he will be teaching another beneficiary with whom he will share the bike, how to cycle.
“I will be receiving a Matie Bike which I will share with another beneficiary who is unable to cycle, so therefore I’ll be teaching them to cycle. I will also be attending various meetings with Tendani [Tshauambea] and providing consistent feedback regarding the pilot programme,” explained Siphiwe Phetla, one of the Ride a Bike initiative’s beneficiaries. PHOTO: Jessica Hillier
“I hope to help the other beneficiaries and prove to both the university and the municipality of Stellenbosch that the programme is worth investing in,” Phetla said.