Bicycle and Personal Electric and Motor Powered Vehicle Parking and Removal Procedures

Responsible Office: Parking Facilities

Overview

Abandoned bicycles and personal electric and motor powered vehicles (EMPVs) located at residential or academic buildings will be tagged with a notice of removal, which will provide the owner of the bicycle/EMPV 14 days to remove their bicycle/EMPV from the tagging date. Owners of abandoned bicycles/EMPVs parked at the Córdova Recreational Sports Center or athletic buildings will be given 5 days to remove their bicycle/EMPV from the date it is tagged. Once removed the bicycle/EMPV will be impounded to wait for reclamation or until a date no longer than 90 days after impound. If the bicycle/EMPV is unclaimed after 90 days, then it will be assumed to be a gift to the University and will be transferred to the Purdue Surplus Store to be sold.

Purpose

Abandoned bicycles/EMPVs are eyesores, represent potential safety hazards to students, and use up valuable parking spaces for those actively using their bicycles/EMPVs on campus. Bicycle/EMPV parking on the academic campus is for temporary parking, not for storage of bikes/EMPVs. Bike/EMPV removals are important to prevent bicycles/devices from being attached to trees, hand rails, and other structures that may adversely impact ADA access routes and/or cause damage to facilities and/or trees. Also, bike locks left on campus bike racks are occasionally removed to maintain a neat campus appearance. Depending on the area of campus, different procedures are used to tag, remove, and store bicycles/EMPVs. This guideline and updated procedure will centralize abandoned bicycle/EMPV removal and storage.

Bicycles/EMPVs are removed and impounded with 14 days prior notice for the following reasons:

1. Abandoned (e.g. rusted chain, deflated tires, leaves and debris present, obviously not in use)
2. Damaged or in disrepair (e.g. bent wheels, handlebars, missing parts)
3. Parked and unmoved in the same location for more than 14 days

Bicycles/EMPVs may be removed and impounded without warning for the following reasons:

1. Parked improperly, i.e. anywhere other than a bicycle rack
2. To complete project work, construction, or to facilitate necessary facility repairs

Parking Facilities will provide advance notice prior to removing bicycles/EMPVs whenever possible. Bicycles/EMPVs will normally be marked for removal for at least 14 days prior to removal. This will allow the owner an opportunity to move their own bicycle/EMPV. Parking Facilities will maintain a record of all bicycles/EMPVs removed that includes the bicycle/EMPV color, make and model, serial number and registration number (if available). A $15 fee may be assessed at the time of recovery.

Definitions

• Abandoned Bicycle - A bicycle shall be considered abandoned if it is found to be in a state of disrepair (e.g. rusted chain, deflated tires, leaves and debris present, obviously not in use, bent wheels, bent handlebars, missing parts.) A bicycle may also be considered abandoned if it is found to be unregistered with the University or is not displaying a proper registration sticker and is not registered within the removal notification time period.

• Electric and Motor Powered Vehicle - Any wheeled vehicle, not required to be registered with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, which utilizes battery power to fully or partially propel its operator, including, but not limited to, electric skateboards, scooters, bikes, hoverboards, Segways, etc. This definition does not include assistive devices such as motorized wheelchairs.

• Athletic Buildings – Athletic buildings are buildings owned by Purdue that serve as a location for intercollegiate sporting events (e.g. Ross-Ade Stadium, Mackey Arena)

• Bicycle Impound – Bicycle Impound is to be located in the Bowen Lot near MMDC.

• Residential Building – Residential buildings are buildings owned by Purdue University which offer places of residence for students. (e.g. http://www.housing.purdue.edu/Housing/Residences/)

Bicycle/Electric Powered Vehicle Removal Process

Residential and Non-Residential Areas (Excluding Recreational Sports and Athletics Buildings)

Parking Facilities oversees the identification, tagging and removal of abandoned bicycles/EMPVs on campus on a regular basis during the school year. Areas of campus will be combed for abandoned and illegally parked bicycles/EMPVs on a weekly basis.

Suspected abandoned bicycles/EMPVs will be marked with a tag that will allow those collecting bikes/EMPVs to determine if a bike has been moved within the given time frame.

Illegally parked bicycles/EMPVs which are determined to be in blatant violation of parking regulations where legal parking options were readily available within a reasonable distance may be removed without warning.
If a bicycle/EMPV is suspected of being abandoned and removal needs to take place outside of the predetermined times, then a request for tag and removal may be submitted to Parking Facilities by emailing pertinent information (reason for removal, location and description of bicycle) to parking@purdue.edu.

Bicycle/EMPV Recovery Process

Once impounded, if registered, attempts will be made to contact the owner of the bicycle/EMPV by using registration contact information. Once contacted, the owner will have 48 hours to claim their bicycle/EMPV from impound.

Unregistered bicycles/EMPVs may be claimed by the owner after sufficient proof of ownership has been provided.

To claim a bicycle/EMPV which has been impounded, the owner must present a government issued ID or Purdue ID and at least two of the following: the bike's/EMPV's serial number, a receipt of purchase, photos of you with the bike/EMPV, a description of any unique features of the bike/EMPV, or a registration with an online bike/EMPV registration service which pre-dates the theft/impounding of the bike/EMPV.

After 60 days unclaimed bicycles/EMPVs are considered to be gifted to Purdue University and become property of Purdue University. 

If you believe your bike/EMPV may have been removed by Purdue personnel and you would like to retrieve it, contact parking@purdue.edu or call 765-494-9497.   

Bicycle/EMPV Parking

To learn more about bicycle/EMPV parking regulations, refer to the University Traffic and Parking Regulations.

Maintenance

Need help with your bicycle? Use the Contact Us page on this website. Find more information on campus bicycle repair stations and the Farmers Market bicycle tent from Campus Planning and Sustainability.