Riding a bike to campus is a staple for many DePaul students because, among other reasons, it’s free.

One Chicago alderwoman wants to change that.

Ald. Pat Dowell of the 3rd Ward recently proposed an annual bike registration fee of $25 as an opportunity to capitalize on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to make Chicago one of the most bike-friendly cities in the country. The proposal would require all bicyclists to register their bike with the city and she projects at least $5 million in revenue each year. For some DePaul students, resistance begins with the mention of a fee.

“I ride my bike because it’s free for me,” Peter Sheff, senior, said. “I paid $50 three years ago for my old bike, and I do my own maintenance – why would I pay someone else because I found a free form of transportation?”

The proposal isn’t all about the money, according to Dowell. One condition of the new proposal is that all cyclists would be required to take a “rules of the road” bike safety class. The emergence of the Divvy bikesharing program resulted in a surge of novice bikers on the streets of Chicago, so cyclist education may not be a bad thing for residents, and Emanuel’s expansion of bike lanes in the city is an added rationale for cyclist education.

One DePaul student recently found herself a victim of cyclist ignorance when she was hit by a driver not yielding to a safe bike lane and advocates for better education. “You can tell that the thought of a biker never even crossed his mind,” Alysia Luevano of Logan Square said. “Drivers and cyclists alike need to be more aware of sharing the road. Getting a license in Chicago should require a portion about bikes.”

A major concern that many Chicago residents share is how it will be enforced. Dowell admitted in a press conference last week that she does not know how many bikes there are in Chicago. Beyond that, skepticism has arisen over how such a vague number of bikes can be held to this registration requirement.

“Police would just be adding that to their list of duties,” senior Sarah Wilson said. “The city has much bigger things to worry about than tracking down unregistered bikers.”

The good news for cyclists in Chicago is that Emanuel doesn’t sound too enthusiastic about Dowell’s proposal. He told the Chicago Tribune that he’ll review the proposal, but he doesn’t think it’s “the right way to go.”

Further, Dowell told the media that she hasn’t “really thought it through completely” in a press conference last week. Still, DePaul students say they will keep an eye on the proposal in the coming months.

“There’s no way I’ll sit by and let them charge me for my self-powered form of transportation,” Sheff said. “I’ll challenge it in any way I can, but I’m not going to concern myself with it until it seems to gain any traction.”