Tech, Emory partner on bike share program

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Tech received a $50,000 grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund Tuesday to develop an innovative bike share program with Emory University.

Emory created Bike Emory in 2007 to make the campus cyclist-friendly through bike shares, discounts on bicycles, on-campus repair stations and other options.

Now the two colleges will work together after Tech students designed a way to store the bikes without kiosks or bike racks.  Mechanical engineering students developed a system called "viaCycle" that allows people to check bikes in and out with text messages sent from cell phones. The system equips all bikes with smart-locks that secure them when not in use.

Emory students will be able to use bikes with this new technology by this summer. Plans call for additional bikes at Tech and in the neighborhoods between the two campuses.