By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

Administrators at the University of New England in Biddeford are telling 480 first-year students ‘you can get there from here’ by bike, Zipcar or shuttle bus. The university is providing incentives for alternative transportation and giving freshmen a reason to leave their cars at home. 

Vice President of Student Affairs Barbara Hazard said there are nearly 1,800 undergraduate students and three new buildings on campus. In addition, the university is in need of another parking lot to accomodate current students without taking into account enrollment increases in the future.

In hopes of reducing the number of vehicles on campus this year, the university is charging $300 per parking permit for first year resident students, setting a new rate for resident parking on campus, while upperclassmen and commuters are asked to pay only $90. 

“In a lot of ways it is a disincentive to new students bringing cars to campus, and it will help pay for the alternatives we are offering. It’s not an inappropriate cost in comparison to other universities,” Hazard said. “We’ve taken a three-pronged approach in thinking about how we can do this. The more alternatives we offer the more we are able to encourage students not to bring their cars to campus.”

The first approach was inspired by a bicycle give away student incentive at Ripon College in Wisconsin, Hazard said. Through the incentive, students will be given a bicycle, helmet and lock, as well as storage on campus if they leave their cars home. She said of 110 available bicycles,  105 students have already claimed the Gary Fisher Tiburon bicycles, suitable for trail and road riding, the university purchased from Cape-Able Bike Shop in Kennebunkport.

Cape-Able owner Brandon Gillard said he teamed up with the university to offer them “quality bicycles for great pricing.” Hazard said the university purchased each set of bicycles, helmets and locks for $290—the Tiburon bicycle alone normally retails for $439.99.

“This is a real culture shift. There are other ways of transportation than using personal cars. I think we’ll be starting something here,” said Campus Center and Orientation Director Mark Nahorney.

For students who don’t want to bike five miles to town and back for groceries, but still are not willing to pay $300 to park their personal car on campus, the university is offering another option, Hazard said Zipcar, an international car sharing company, has come to UNE for the first time this school year and will allow students to register and reserve one of two Honda CR-V’s parked in front of the university’s campus center.

“The nice part about Zipcars is it allows students under 21 to rent the car,” she said. “There is a registration fee of $35 and then it will be $7 an hour for use. Students were given the option of the free bike or 28 hours free for the Zipcars.”

Associate Dean of Students for Community Life Daryl Conte said unlike the bicycles, only available to freshmen, the Zipcars are available to the entire student body and while 100 students have already registered for the car sharing, he said he expects more will register after classes begin.

“If you think about it, if you get five people together to use the car for five hours, that’s $35. Divide that by five people, and you are only paying $7 each. They’d pay more than that in gas,” Conte said. 

The Nor’easter Express will be returning to campus this year, providing bus service between the campus and downtown Biddeford. The shuttle is free to all faculty, staff and students and makes stops along Hills Beach Road, Pool Road, Main Street, the new apartments in North Dam Mill and the Saco train station, Conte said. He said with an expanded schedule, the shuttle will now provide service in the morning, at lunchtime and in the evening, seven days a week. Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach Transit Executive Director Ed Clifford could not be reached as of press time to confirm the new schedule. Hazard said she hopes to negotiate running a shuttle similar to the Zoom on weekends as well, providing access to downtown Portland and the Maine Mall for students. 

“I think these efforts are great,” Conte said. “It will encourage students to stay on campus but still providing access to frequent local establishments. It also takes some pressure off parents who felt compelled to leave cars with their children.”