A pair of bright blue sheds sit next to the east end of a pedestrian bridge on Santa Barbara City College’s campus, where Bici Centro volunteers could be seen Monday ferrying bikes in and out, checking tire pressure, talking to students between classes and getting the word out that the new DIY repair shop is now open for business.
The shop is a miniature version of what is offered at Bici Centro’s Haley Street location, where the nonprofit helps members of the community maintain and repair their bicycles with the help of skilled mechanics.
The shop — which is an effort of its parent organization, the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition — also sells new and used parts, accessories and bikes.
The doors to the new SBCC repair shop opened to the public officially on Monday, and volunteers will be on hand to help bicyclists do repairs and tune-ups.
The shop will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Thursday, according to Mike Vergeer, who will be the shop’s adviser and is a Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition board member as well as an SBCC geography teacher.
The Bicycle Coalition partnered with SBCC as part of its alternative transportation plan.
Joe Sullivan, vice president of business services for SBCC, said that an alternative transportation incentive pilot program was started Jan. 12 and just offered to staff and faculty of the college, but has proven a bigger success than anyone expected. About 140 people have already signed up, pledging to commute to the school using alternative means.
Parking is constricted on the oceanfront campus, and with enrollment numbers higher than ever, college officials began looking for ways to take the pressure off the crowded parking lots.
About a year ago, representatives from the college, Bici Centro and the City of Santa Barbara started to talk about obstacles that prevented bikes from being a bigger presence on campus.
“The number one issue was safety,” Sullivan said, adding that the city has been working to make Cliff Drive safer for a bikes with the presence of a bike lane.
SBCC doesn’t have as big of a bike presence as UC Santa Barbara, where beach cruisers seem to outnumber vehicle traffic many days, but “we’re trying to change the culture,” Sullivan said.
Bici Centro will be managing the campus bike shop location, which sits inside an area formerly reserved for motorcycle parking on the east side of the pedestrian bridge.
Sullivan said that the college worked to install more lighting and security cameras at the motorcycle parking lot that sits at the edge of Loma Alta so that people would feel more comfortable using that lot instead.
“This is really exciting for us,” he said.
Vergeer said that the goal is to make “the bicycle a viable option for short trips.”
“We want to be your center for all things bike,” he said of the new campus location.
SBCC President Lori Gaskin was also on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday and encouraged other attendees to use their bikes to get to campus.
“Let’s let this grow and grow and become a phenomenon,” she said.
Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook
