“The University of Dayton is giving 100 students free bicycles”
Ain’t nothin’ in this life free. Especially not bikes that retail a $600 a pop (according the story). OTOH, it is a private university, so it’s probably the students (through their campus fees), and not the taxpayers at large, paying for this.
As for the idea behind it... eh/meh. Lots of students ride bikes on college campuses. My school forbid freshmen from getting parking passes because there just weren’t enough parking spots. So, in terms of easing parking congestion, this idea may help a bit. As far as reducing a carbon footprint or whatnot, it’s the same old nonsense.
“so it’s probably the students (through their campus fees), and not the taxpayers at large, paying for this.”
UD is extremely expensive. $38,500 a year just for tuition and $1,150 a credit hour. I think they might be able to scrape $600 out of the budget for a “free” bike to promote a liberal warm fuzzy feeling. It also probably costs 5 times that amount to build and maintain a parking spot.