Recently, bike share programs have received a lot of press thanks to Boston's new Hubway system. But in addition to Hubway, colleges and universities across the state are also continuing the roll-out of bike share programs. Most recently, UMass campuses at Amherst and Lowell have announced the start of new bike share programs in an effort to help students get around campus in a healthy, fun way.

UMass-Amherst's program, Dig Wheels, will give students and faculty the opportunity to get out of their cars and onto a bike when it rolls out this fall. These bikes are available for free and may be used on and off campus for a maximum of 24 hours (check out includes a bike, a helmet, and a lock).

UMass-Lowell is also starting a bike share program called the UMass-Lowell Freewheelers, opening in September. Seen as one way of creating a healthier and more sustainable campus community, the program will consist of 15 bikes over UMass-Lowell's three campuses. One major goal of the program is to provide better access between the three campus locations, and at the same time reducing pollution and increasing physical activity.

These two programs join several other programs in the state that have already implemented successful bike share programs, including:

• • Lesley University: LUGSY

• • Hampshire College: Yellow Bikes

• • Brandeis University: DeisBikes

• • Tufts University: Tufts Bikes

• • Clark University: Cycles of Change

We are happy to see bike share programs are blossoming around the state and wish all the best to the new programs. We can only imagine that this trend will continue and we'll see more bike sharing in the future!