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Monday, 12 November 2012

The University is providing free parking and free fuel for up to 16 staff or students … as long as you ride an electric bike.

A new bike shed, near the tennis courts at the northern end of the Crawley campus, is powered by 12 solar panels, enough to recharge 22 e-bikes for a 40 kilometre trip home.

At the moment, the shed has racks with recharge connections for 16 bikes, and lockers for 16 riders. But if there is more demand, more racks and lockers will be installed. The new facility is a UWA Sustainable Development Project , in collaboration with Unipark .

David Tyrrell-Clark , Manager Parking and Transport, said four e-bikes were regularly parked in the shed and, until others registered for the service, University commuters with non-electric bikes could use the secure parking.

“With a 2.3kW photovoltaic system, we can easily support 16 bikes and more,” he said. “All you need to do is to call us at Unipark and get access to the shed added to your staff or student card. We are in the process of getting locks fitted to the lockers inside the shed and when that’s done, it will be a $50 refundable key deposit and a $50 a year charge to use one.

“I’m so delighted with this new facility. It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”

The solar-powered charging shed has the potential to solve problems of parking, traffic, health and fossil fuel consumption. Electric bikes are ideal for commuters in Perth with its heat, wind and some hilly terrain. Most e-cyclists use their electric motors to assist them with hills and riding into the wind, rather than powering the whole ride.

Next on the agenda for Unipark and Sustainable Development Projects is more end-of-ride facilities.

David said there were more than 1,000 bike racks on the Crawley campus. “They are always full, with more bikes chained to posts and taken into offices. So I estimate there are about 1,200 bikes on campus on any given day,” he said.

Call David on (+ 61 8) 6488 3554 or drop into the Unipark office, in the Hackett Foundation Building, in car park 1, to register to use the new facility.

Published in UWA News , 12 November 2012

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