Hundreds of bicycles donated in exchange for Lake Express Ferry rides

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Earth Week continues across the country and in Milwaukee, the people who run the Lake Express Ferry marked the occasion in an interesting way. They've done it for years and Friday, April 23, was their annual bike drive. 

Each year, they ask people to donate gently used bicycles in exchange for a ride on the ferry between Milwaukee and Michigan. 

When CBS 58 stopped there, they had already collected about 500 bikes, which they'll deliver to charities that give them away. 

Lake Express Senior Vice President Aaron Schultz calls the bike drive an extension of what they do. 

"The health aspects of it, but also just the ability to get out and experience the things there are to do. We encourage people to get on board the Lake Express, go over and bike on that side of the lake -- on the Michigan side of the lake," said Schultz. "When they come back this way, we try to show all the varieties of trails and experiences here as well."

Since 2010, Lake Express has collected more than 5,000 bicycles that have been given away in Milwaukee, Madison and even Chicago.