Bike Friendly

Oberlin’s campus is incredibly bike-friendly. Most students and other Oberlin residents own bikes. For those who do not, bikes can be rented by the semester for a small fee from the Bike Co-op, a cooperatively run bicycle repair, rental, and education center that is housed in a college building and run primarily by Oberlin students. The Bike Co-op has been in operation since 1986 and runs a variety of activities for local children, including the chance to earn a bike through working 10 hours with the bike mechanics learning how to build and maintain bicycles. Most parking lots are located on the periphery of campus, successfully encouraging walking and biking around campus. Most campus buildings have their own bike racks, and very few have parking lots.

City Wheels Car-sharing Program

Oberlin College hosts two car-sharing vehicles on campus through a Cleveland non-profit called CityWheels and has agreed to subsidize membership costs for students. Membership in this car-sharing program is available to anyone in the community over the age of 21. Everyone can join—students, academic departments, local business-owners, and residents. The partnership with CityWheels offers affordable access to clean, fuel-efficient vehicles, promoting stewardship of resources through reducing the need for privately-owned, inefficient vehicles.

Hybrid Vehicles

Oberlin College purchased two Ford Escape hybrid vehicles in 2005 for the Office of Safety and Security. These gas/electric vehicles offer 41% better fuel economy than the standard 4 cylinder gas engine and are well suited to the sort of stop and go driving that the Safety and Security office does.

Electric Vehicle

In 2005 the College also purchased a plug-in electric Tiger Star cargo van for mail delivery.