University of Stuttgart wins a bike repair station

For three weeks starting on June 20, 2021, students and employees swung into the sad­dle and recorded the dist­ances they traveled by ­bike­­. The University of Stuttgart entered the team with the most members and this dedication is now being rewarded by the RadKULTUR initiative and the climate protection campaign STADTRADELN. The University of Stuttgart has won a RadService bike repair point in the form of a bike repair column, which will be installed on Campus Stadtmitte in the coming year.

The STADT­RA­DELN cam­pai­gn supports clima­te­ protection and the ­­promotion of­ cycl­ing. STADTRADELN is an intercommunity cycling competition in which local residents collect cycling miles within a set time frame. The participants cycle their everyday routes, join together in teams, record the kilometers covered and thus experience the benefits of cycling in a motivating way. The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport has been supporting STADTRADELN since 2017 as part of the RadKULTUR initiative and has provided a total of around EUR 250,000 in funding for the local authorities’ participation fees.

As part of the campaign, the University of Stuttgart was awarded a special prize for having the most cyclists in the race and will receive a RadService bicycle repair point from RadKultur in the form of a bicycle repair column, which will be installed on Campus Stadtmitte next year.

And there is even more good news: together with the bike repair workshop belonging to the stuvus student council, the Greenoffice was able to raise funds for the expansion of the bike workshop and bike repair columns through the university's internal funding line Una Terra with the project Rad und Tat. A further bike repair workshop is to be built on Campus Stadtmitte, and three more bike repair stations on Campus Vaihingen.

The project Rad und Tat aims to help make the university more bike-friendly and the bike workshop is an important component of this. Students and employees can carry out repairs themselves and make old bicycles roadworthy again. Daniel Siebert, head of the bicycle workshop, is particularly keen to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to repair bicycles onsite. Prior knowledge is not necessary. Siebert is critical of the fact that "In our consumer society, goods are often replaced directly as soon as they break." "This uses scarce resources unnecessarily and is something that must undergo significant change. The global climate also benefits from an increase in cycling due to falling per capita emissions."

As part of the Rad und Tat project, a public bike repair event will be held during the mobility weeks. In addition, new tools worth EUR 2,500 have already been ordered and the three anthracite gray repair columns for Campus Vaihingen will be delivered next year. The construction work is already being planned so that the bike repair columns can be installed promptly. These will be distributed around Campus Vaihingen in such a way that they can be easily used by both students and employees. The bicycle repair columns complement the services offered by the stuvus bike workshop and enable all university members to carry out minor repairs independently, even when the workshop is closed.