HONOLULU -- The University of Hawaii on Wednesday started a new bicycle patrol designed to beef up campus security.

Ten campus security officers volunteered for the job. They passed a nationally-certified course.

Besides helping students, the officers said they are helping themselves.

"This is a good deal. I mean, I am staying fit and I am getting in shape and I am getting paid for it," security officer Catherine Fontaine said.

UH said the bicycle security program has been in the works since last July, long before the horrors of the Virginia Tech massacre.

"I think through that, Virginia Tech really does give us reason to recognize the importance of our campus security, the importance of having good communications with our students and the importance of getting around in multiple ways on campus," UH Manoa Chancellor Denise Eby Konan said.

Previously, campus security officers traveled only in vehicles. Patrols on bikes are friendlier, officials said.

"It puts them closer to the community. They are more in touch with what goes on," UH Manoa Campus Security Chief Neal Sakamoto said.

Freshman Wailana Waite said she believes the bikes will be an improvement.

"I think it will definitely help them get to situations faster," she said.

Other security improvements on campus include better lighting, more security cameras and the call for eight new security officers, to bring the total force to 49.

UH is also looking into hiring an armed campus police force with powers of arrest, but a decision on that won't be made until the fall.