Ole' Miss Bike Share Program Helping Out Students on a Budget

OXFORD, Miss - Not many students on the University of Mississippi’s Oxford campus know about the Rebel Pedals program. Created by the Department of Recreation, the Ole’ Miss Outdoors, also known as OMOD, has had a bike share program for two years, said Casey Armstrong, who works in the OMOD department.

According to Armstrong, Rebel Pedals will start up again mid-August. It is currently not running due to maintenance being done on the bikes, and also, the program is in the process of getting all new bikes that are more efficient.

“With the new bikes we’re getting, we’re not going to have to work on them as much as we are right now...The return and the check out process will be a lot faster and a lot smoother instead of waiting on maintenance people to come in and do maintenance on the bikes,” said Armstrong.

The program currently offers cruisers and mountain bikes; the new bikes they are getting are workman cruisers, which are all aluminum bikes with a single speed and a fixed gear which makes them “a good bike for around school and around town.” Starting in the fall, it will be $15 for a semester for a membership, or $20 for a year membership.

“It’s a one time fee; you pay it up front and then you come and fill out an application, and each time you come back you can rent the bike, and it doesn’t cost you anything once you pay that fee. You can have it from Monday at 10 o’clock until Friday, no later than 6 o’clock,” says Armstrong.

The bikes are available to students and faculty.

“People without transportation from and to school or just around campus, we allow them to come here and rent a bike for the week; but, our goal is to basically have them test it out, rent it for a week, and then eventually go out and buy their own bike to commute around town and on campus,” said Armstrong.

Rebel Pedals is also a cost efficient way to get around Oxford.

“With the economy kind of bad right a lot of people are turning towards riding their bikes to school. You see a lot more bikes around town, around campus,” said Armstrong.

You can find out more information about the Rebel Pedals bike share program by going to OMOD located on the bottom floor of the Turner Center or by clicking here.


Wesley Marcel, an Ole' Miss student, rides his bike home from class.