It’s finally Summer vacation for most college students, and you know what that means: returning home for break with high hopes of unwinding, sleeping in, and maybe even traveling. But, we’re all too familiar with the Summer break blues; you make it home, only to find that you’re bored and have nothing to do! You get stir-crazy, sleep the days away, and before you know it, it’s time to head back for the Fall semester.

Thankfully, there’s plenty to do this summer, and all you need is good weather, a cellphone, and your university email address!

The University of West Georgia recently partnered with the Zagster bike share program, an easy-to-use bike rental system, and bike stations for the program are scattered all over Carrollton and the Green Belt - with many stations located right on our campus.

All you need is the Zagster mobile app, and you’re ready to ride! If you register with your university email address, you get an hour a day at no charge, and any time over the first hour is only $3.

The Zagster app will show you a map of local bike stations, and how many bikes are available to ride, so you don’t risk heading out for a ride without a bike to rent. Using a quick and easy Bluetooth connection, your phone will connect to the Zagster bike and unlock it before starting a timer that will allow you to keep track of how long your rental is.

The bikes come with an attached locking cable, so if you need to take a break at any point, you can lock your bike to any nearby tree or pole - not just the Zagster stations - and resume when you are ready, without giving up your checked out bike.

The checkout process is quick and easy, and so is the return - simply lock the bike back into place in the Zagster station dock, and your rental will end. If you or a family member doesn’t have a smartphone, you can even check out bikes via a simple SMS message system.

While students have one free hour a day and small fees afterwards, monthly and yearly memberships are also available for those who plan to use the service often.

The Zagster Bike Share system is not only an environmentally conscious implementation on our campus, it’s also a fun and easy way to be more active! I have used the rental system many times myself, and thanks to the built-in baskets on the bikes, even my dog enjoys it!

For more information, you can see UWG's official site for details here.