The University of Michigan Grounds Department is gearing up to remove abandoned bicycles from bike racks on the Ann Arbor campus.
Brightly colored tags will be placed on bikes that show signs of abandonment, such as bent rims, rusted or broken chains, deteriorated tires or frozen brakes, cables or shifters.
Starting Wednesday, each tagged bike will be photographed and have its location, model, color, serial number and registration documented, if available. This information will be turned over to the U-M Police Department.
Any tagged bikes left on campus after May 19 will be considered abandoned and will be removed by the Grounds Department. Bicycle owners who want to retrieve their bikes should contact the Grounds Department at 734-763-5539.
Nearly 1,000 abandoned bicycles have been removed from campus since the bike-removal program was launched on campus in spring 2016.
All collected bicycles in good condition will be donated to Project Healthy Schools, a community-Michigan Medicine collaborative, to be refurbished and donated to Michigan schools.
Phillip Farber
Please consider donating a portion of the abandoned bicycles to the local bicycle co-op, Common Cycle. The benefit the local community and provide services to those in need in our own town. https://commoncycle.org/contact-2/