Go ofo go
Bike sharing company funds freebies for Dallas' Paul Quinn College
Facebook is full of people complaining about Dallas' bike-sharing programs but a college just south of downtown Dallas is only too happy to get on board. Paul Quinn College has entered into a generous partnership with ofo, the China-based bike sharing company with yellow bikes, which will operate its dockless bike sharing program on campus and offer free rides to Paul Quinn students for the spring semester.
Paul Quinn President Michael Sorrell welcomes the bikes as a key tool for his students and staff.
"We are thrilled to have ofo bikes on campus for our students and staff to use," Sorrell says in a release. "Our hope is that by providing these bikes for our students, we will begin to change their relationship with transportation and sustainable living practices."
He calls Ofo "an amazing company," with a compelling vision.
"We are proud to welcome them into the Quinnite Nation and applaud their commitment to building bridges and creating access," he says. "This partnership is going to be a game-changer for our students and community."
Everett Weiler, the GM for ofo in Dallas, states that the partnership with Paul Quinn is part of its mission to provide bikes to each and every community in Dallas.
"From its inception, ofo has been committed to ensuring that all communities in which it operates have the ability to access our bikes," he says. "Connecting people to jobs, school, cultural amenities, and transit, bikes provide a crucial transportation option in many communities and ensure that every resident of Dallas has equitable access to all that Dallas has to offer."
He calls President Sorrell a "visionary leader" who immediately appreciated the value of ofo to his student body and staff. "We are thrilled to be working with him," Weiler says.
Founded in 2014, ofo is the world's original and largest station-free bicycle-sharing platform. The company was created for sharing, and aims to unlock every corner of the world by making bikes accessible to everyone. To date, ofo has connected users to more than 10 million bikes in over 250 cities across 20 countries, and has provided over 200 million global users with 6 billion efficient, convenient, and green rides. The company recently partnered with the JJ Barea Foundation to donate 600 bikes to Puerto Rico in support of hurricane relief efforts.