DOTS promotes bike use

As part of an environmental initiative to reduce driving on the campus, the Department of Transportation Services has formed a bicycle committee charged with increasing campus bicycle use.

The Ad Hoc Bicycle Committee, which first met Aug. 24, is working to create and fund a sustainable bicycle program, said David Allen, director of Transportation Services. The committee plans to help students rent bicycles or purchase them inexpensively and is working to create a registry to record bicycle ownership in the event of loss or theft. The committee will also work to encourage bicycle safety.

"We want to have more bikes on campus, and the input of the committee will help guide us to do that," said Allen, who attended the meeting.

Allen said the committee is part of the overall Transportation Department strategy to decrease the number of cars on the campus by encouraging carpools, vanpools and bus ridership in addition to bicycles.

According to a record of the first meeting, the committee raised the point that the university is heavily car-oriented, although there are about 3,200 bicycles on the campus on any given weekday.

While locking his bicycle in front of the South Campus Dining Hall, freshman letters and sciences major Eric Medina said he thought the committee was a "great idea."

"If people would start riding their bikes more, there would be less traffic," Medina said. "I guess there would be more bike stands, but that's cheaper than more parking spots."

The meeting brought together representatives from DOTS, University Police, faculty, the Student Government Association, the Graduate Student Government and the College Park Area Bicycle Coalition.

The CPABC, founded in 1988, is dedicated to promoting and increasing bicycle use on the campus and in its vicinity.

Bill Kelly, chairman of the CPABC and an attendee of the meeting, said he was skeptical of the committee's plans.

"We've met [with the university] like this four to five times in the past 20 years, and not much has come of it," said Kelly, adding that bike safety is a campus problem he does not think the committee will solve.

"Once you are on this campus, you are at your own peril," Kelly said. "The only place to ride is on sidewalks, and you run into pedestrians there. Bikes are designed for streets, not sidewalks."

Allen also mentioned safety, noting there are no dedicated bike lanes on the campus.

"The problem is that many cyclists ride like they were in middle school, going over crosswalks and sidewalks and weaving in and out of traffic," Allen said. "Those who ride more predictably, such as using hand signals, are better."

Andrew Roshwalb, a junior mechanical engineering major who rides his bicycle on the campus, also said he hoped the committee would improve bike safety.

"It's a good idea," Roshwalb said. "The sidewalks are pretty crowded and dangerous."