Spring Break
Group Works To Develop Community Bike Program For Students
Lindsay Fetzner
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
Members of the UConn Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), EcoHusky, Office of Environmental Policy (OEP) and ConnPIRG are collaborating to try to bring a community bike program to campus.
The informal group met in Castleman Tuesday night at 8 p.m. to discuss the possibility and logistics of implementing such a program.
The idea to start a community bike program was originally brought up in 2005 when a group of engineering students did a senior design project on a master bike plan at UConn. Within the project, a survey was conducted polling UConn students on whether they would utilize such a program. The overwhelming results showed that students would indeed be interested.
The use of bikes over cars on and around campus would offer many positive outcomes, according to a slide show at the meeting. Reducing on-campus vehicular traffic, decreasing the parking demand and reducing emissions are just a few of the perks to having a more bikes and fewer cars.
"We are hoping to get a bike-sharing program started on campus because it would encourage more sustainable transportation and [cut] greenhouse gas emissions," said Jennifer Sayers, an 8th-semester environmental studies major, member of EcoHusky and OEP intern. "There have been tons of these programs started at other schools as well."
A survey conducted on campus involving roughly 4,000 students estimated that 35 percent of people would utilize the program if it became available, according to Jessica Mortell, an 8th-semester civil engineering major and USG senator.
Some of the first steps in bringing a bike program to UConn are to first create an oversight group. The next steps would be to draft a constitution and elect officers.
"By the end of the semester, we want to create a business proposal to present to the administration and students for different program designs," Mortell said. "My goal is to see an actual pilot program established by the time I graduate in December."
The informal group met in Castleman Tuesday night at 8 p.m. to discuss the possibility and logistics of implementing such a program.
The idea to start a community bike program was originally brought up in 2005 when a group of engineering students did a senior design project on a master bike plan at UConn. Within the project, a survey was conducted polling UConn students on whether they would utilize such a program. The overwhelming results showed that students would indeed be interested.
The use of bikes over cars on and around campus would offer many positive outcomes, according to a slide show at the meeting. Reducing on-campus vehicular traffic, decreasing the parking demand and reducing emissions are just a few of the perks to having a more bikes and fewer cars.
"We are hoping to get a bike-sharing program started on campus because it would encourage more sustainable transportation and [cut] greenhouse gas emissions," said Jennifer Sayers, an 8th-semester environmental studies major, member of EcoHusky and OEP intern. "There have been tons of these programs started at other schools as well."
A survey conducted on campus involving roughly 4,000 students estimated that 35 percent of people would utilize the program if it became available, according to Jessica Mortell, an 8th-semester civil engineering major and USG senator.
Some of the first steps in bringing a bike program to UConn are to first create an oversight group. The next steps would be to draft a constitution and elect officers.
"By the end of the semester, we want to create a business proposal to present to the administration and students for different program designs," Mortell said. "My goal is to see an actual pilot program established by the time I graduate in December."
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