No wheels? No problem

UC Irvine has a new set of wheels.

ZotWheels, to be precise.

The university has become the second in the country to launch an automated bike-sharing program for its students and employees, geared at encouraging Anteaters to do their small part to save the planet by cutting down on driving.

School officials say ZotWheels will offset 20 to 40 metric tons of greenhouse emissions in its first year alone, and hope to bolster the program both on campus and regionally in the future.

“I think we were kind of in the right place at the right time,” said Lynn Harris, a planner with the school’s Parking and Transportation Services.

ZotWheels had its official launch on campus Friday.

For a $40 annual fee, riders will be able to check out any of 25 beach cruisers set up at four vending machine-style stations on campus, by scanning their RFID (radio-frequency identification) membership cards any time from sunrise to sunset. One of the bikes then undocks from a row of stalls.

Riders will be able to use the bikes for up to three hours, at which time they’ll be sent a text message asking them to return the bike at any of the stations.

ZotWheels stations will be installed in four different corners of the campus: at the Student Center, where the system was dedicated Friday, the Langson Library; the Science Library; and the Physical Sciences area.

Similar programs exist at UC Davis and Stanford University, but require in-person check-in and check-out with a clerk on duty. Saint Xavier University in Illinois is the only other campus in the country to offer the automated service, which is popular in Europe.

Staff members will work throughout the day to ensure that each location has available bikes, as well as empty spaces where bikes can be returned. Riders will be able to check the ZotWheels website to see if bikes are available at a certain station before walking over to it.

The program is named after the sound an anteater in the “B.C.” comic strip used when eating an ant. “Zot” has since become a household word at UCI. The anteater is the UCI mascot, and is depicted on each blue, white and gold bike.

UCI has long been a leader in green building, and is the only campus in the country to have five LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold awards.

Interested faculty, staff and students will be able to sign up for accounts in the coming weeks.

New members are required to take and pass an online bicycle safety course before their membership cards are mailed.

The first 250 students or employees to register will receive welcome kits that include a bicycle helmet, a lock, a water bottle and a light.

The $40 membership fee is meant to create a sense of accountability and ownership among users.

If a bike is severely damaged or is not returned, the user and campus security will be notified, and a $200 fee may apply.

Any revenues generated will go back into the system, which is subsidized by the university. It took about $200,000 to implement to date, said Mike Davis of the school’s Parking and Transportation Services.

The funds came from revenues generated by parking tickets.

Creators see students and staff using the bikes to go to local grocery stores or to cross campus in a hurry, as well as to take leisurely rides around campus or on adjacent nature trails.

Ronald Fleming, the interim director of the school’s Parking and Transportation Services, first came up with the idea while visiting the Cabazon outlet mall with his family in early 2008.

While there, they rented a stroller from an automated vending system, and Fleming — a self-professed geek — got to thinking about how something like it could work at UCI with bicycles.

He contacted Central Specialties Ltd., the company that manufactures the self-service stroller machines, and the firm offered to modify its system to handle bicycles.

The company then joined with other companies such as bike maker Collegiate Bicycle Company and electronic barcode company Miles Data Technologies to make a consortium called Ecotrip that created the system.

“We want it to be a program that lasts and hopefully expands,” Davis said.

For more information, visit www.parking.uci.edu/bike/zotwheels.cfm.