***UPDATE: The Bike Share bicycles have been collected for maintenance and storage for the winter months.
The Bike Share Program will return Spring 2023***
Harper College launched its very own Bike Share Program in Summer 2022 in Partnership
with Koloni. We are excited that you are interested in learning more about the Bike Share Program!
Bike Sharing can often be an effective complement to public transportation. It increases mobility options, reduces carbon emission, enhances
the overall transportation networks in our surrounding communities, provides leisure
activities and much more! Bike sharing involves a network of bicycles and stations,
where a member or renter can check out a bike from a station and return it to any
other station within the network. Bike Sharing can often supplement existing transportation
systems by offering users an option for quick and reliable one‐way or two-way trips.
Bike Sharing is usually ideal for short trips or leisure activities.
Check out the Harper College Bike Share Program article in the Daily Herald.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving!” -Albert Einstein
The Harper College Bike Share Program is a transportation initiative meant to encourage folks to bike to campus as an alternative form of transportation, especially in the event that transportation is a barrier. Moreover, the Bike Share Program was also launched to provide additional leisure and physical wellness opportunities to students, employees and surrounding community members. Harper College has partnered with the company, Koloni, to launch the Bike Share Program on campus.
The Bike Share Program is a bike rental system where individuals can rent a bike from the designated rack (if they are not already in use) and ride the bikes at their leisure. In order to access the bikes and unlock them, individuals will need to download the FREE Koloni app from the App Store or Google Play store using a smart phone, make sure their Bluetooth is on, and follow the instructions on their phones to download the app. The app icon is blue with a white flag in the middle (it should be the first option when you search “Koloni”).
To unlock the bike after downloading the app, users need to:
1. Ensure their Bluetooth is turned on in their smart phone.
2. Sign up in the app with their phone number or email address (Harper students and employees are encouraged to use their Harper email in order to receive additional hours FREE).
3. Input a credit or debit card information. The users card will not be charged as long as they do not bike over the allotted free hours.
4. Users will then scan the QR code located on the bike in order to unlock a bike that is not currently being used.
5. The bikes will then be unlocked and ready for use! Users can often hear a "click" when the bike has been unlocked. Users can adjust the height of the seat using lever below the bike seat.
6. Once a user is done using the bike, the user must return the bike to a designated Bike Share Program rack. These rack locations can be found on the Koloni app.
Harper College has one location for the current available bike racks. The Bike Share Program bike rack is located behind Building D and next to the Parking Garage (facing Kris Howard Dr.), but users can also find or leave the bikes inside the parking garage (facing Kris Howard Dr.), and outside of the Health and Recreation Center (Building M). Users who download the Koloni app can also locate the nearest rack when they open the app.
A Bike Share Program rack is also located in downtown Palatine (Parking Garage near the train station), so that community users have additional options when riding or hopping off at the Palatine Metra station.
The pricing is as follows:
Koloni provides a pause feature on the app in the event the rider is done riding for the moment, but not the day, and wants to ensure a bike will be there for them when they are complete with their present activity. For example, if someone rides a Koloni bike to get groceries, they would pause their ride to go into the store and then resume their ride when they leave the store. Pausing the ride also removes the availability of that specific bike, meaning no one can take it from the current rider if the pause feature is enabled.
There are bike helmets located at the front desk available for rent in Building M (Health and Recreation Center), so all you have to do is scan your student ID and the helmet is yours for as long as six months! (There will be a fee for damaged or helmets that are not returned). Harper employees can also rent the helmets for free as well! It’s important to practice safer biking by wearing a helmet each time you get on.
To make the most of your ride while using the Bike Share Program, there are two additional stations on campus to pick up or leave a bike. Users can find these additional bike rack stations inside the parking garage facing Kris Howard Dr. and outside of the Health and Recreation Center (Building M). Users can locate these stations on the Koloni app, as well.
Questions? Please contact Bike Share Program Coordinator, Kayla Parchim, at pk32218@harpercollege.edu.