How to get around without a car in Rexburg.
No Car? No Worries!
Not everyone in college can afford a car between insurance and gas and other expenses. The city of Rexburg is no different. There are some common ways to travel. Often roommates are kind enough to allow others to tag along. Additionally, the city is pretty small, measuring 10.1 mi². Campus and other destinations, like grocery stores and church buildings, are within walking distance of most student housing.
Luckily, Rexburg has a few different ways the students living in town can take advantage of to get around the town for those days you don’t feel like walking or you want to go somewhere a little out of reach.
Walmart Shuttle Express
Salt Lake Express is a company that offers shuttle services to over thirty destinations in the western United States. They have a special shuttle service in Rexburg to take students to Walmart. The service has 10 locations across town making it even more accessible. It runs multiple times a day, seven days a week, and is a free service that requires no reservations. Be sure to note that the shuttle runs its route in 45 minutes to an hour, requiring some relatively fast shopping. More information about their service, as well as tips for shopping fast, can be found on their website, “Riding The Rexburg Walmart Shuttle”. This website includes the estimated departure and arrival times for each location as well as an interactive map showing the exact pickup and drop-off location for each stop.
BYUI ride board
For students who are social media savvy, there is a Facebook group open to BYU-Idaho students looking for rides. The group is private and requires students to agree to their rules before their membership is approved. Once admitted, students are welcome to ask for rides as well as offer them up. Some will post their destination, how many seats are available, and the cost to ride as opposed to waiting for someone to ask for rides. Students who are asking for rides can expect a response to their post within a day. The rides are not always local either. A popular destination is the SLC airport in Salt Lake City, Utah which is about a 3-and-a-half-hour drive from Rexburg. Another popular destination is Idaho Falls, frequented by students on weekends and holidays. Students can ask for help moving items up to school or back home. The group has also taken the extra step to use “expert badges” to verify riders and drivers. Use this link to request to join the Facebook group, “BYUI ride board”. The only requirement being an agreement to the group rules.
Outdoor Resource Center Rentals
One of many resources BYU-Idaho offers to its students is the Outdoor Resource Center. A campus-run department, the Outdoor Resource Center (ORC), is home to over a hundred different things students can rent for a daily rate. From winter sports to summer sports and climbing to swimming, they have something for everyone. In this case, they have a couple of different options for students who know how to ride a bike. There are three different options for traveling locally. They have the road bike at $25 a day, tandem bikes at $20 a day, and for students who will brave the snow, they have “Fat Bikes” which are bikes that can be ridden in the snow. Those are only available for rent in winter and run for $25 a day. The ORC has additional accessories including burley trailers that will attach to bikes or skis and carry children for $12 a day. They also have accessible bikes for people who might have no legs, one leg, or other medical conditions like that. For inquiries about these bikes or any other questions, one might have about available equipment and rentals, visit the ORC website or give them a call at (208) 496- 7337. This site includes their hours and exact location as well as other helpful information.
Bird Scooter Rentals
Renting scooters and bikes from an app on your phone has boomed in popularity and that boom has reached Rexburg. Bird Scooters can be found all around Rexburg and are easy to find and rent just by downloading the app, “Bird”. Once the app is downloaded, you can view a map of where all available scooters are located. ( See image below.) From there you can pick a scooter, reserve it, and even ping it to make sounds as you get closer to help you find it. Each scooter has a code for you to scan where it will then walk you through setting up payment and how to ride the scooter. The scooters have ‘dead zones’, where they are not allowed like campus and sidewalks but they can be ridden around the perimeter and all over town. The scooters themselves are electronic and only require a push off to get started. It costs $1 to start and then it is $0.39 for every minute after. ($3 minimum charge).
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