{"id":22827,"date":"2017-12-11T10:54:07","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T15:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=22827"},"modified":"2022-03-16T12:19:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T16:19:40","slug":"us-universities-bicycle-friendly-campuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/us-universities-bicycle-friendly-campuses\/","title":{"rendered":"US Universities Moving Towards Bicycle Friendly Campuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Yale University, a typical morning bustles with bike commuters on its largely car-free campus roads. A recently honored Gold-level Bicycle Friendly University, Yale has all kinds of programs and perks encouraging bike riding on campus. And it is definitely not alone. <\/span><\/p>\n

Across the country, college campuses are going green with bicycles. And just like football or hackathon, a little bit of healthy competition is motivating and uniting university communities to make a healthier earth one ride at a time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bicycle-friendly campuses<\/b><\/h2>\n

Piloted by the <\/span>League of American Bicyclists<\/span><\/a> in 2011, Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) is a program that recognizes universities for their bicycle-friendly campuses with honors, ranging from bronze to platinum, as well as honorable mentions. As of 2017, there are 182 BFUs spread across 45 states and Washington D.C. <\/span><\/p>\n

Every year, universities submit an extensive application for their bicycle-friendly campuses to be considered for awards. The league evaluates applications based on the following five areas: engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation or planning. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether selected or not, universities receive feedbacks from the league to guide them where and how to improve. Every four years, to either retain the award received or move up to a higher award, universities need to submit another application highlighting the improvements.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The program is a valuable way to benchmark our progress from year to year and learn from peer institutions,\u201d said Brianne Mullen, Yale\u2019s Urban Sustainability Program Associate. \u201cThe Bicycle Friendly University application process is particularly helpful for identifying strategies we might try in the future to become even more bike friendly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yale has been a BFU since 2012 when it achieved Bronze-level status. Two years later, it reached Silver status. Currently, it is one of only 20 universities in the country with the Gold-level designation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yale\u2019s commitment <\/b><\/h2>\n

A bicycle-friendly campus fits in with Yale\u2019s larger commitment to be environmentally responsible and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the establishment of the Yale Office of Sustainability in 2005 and <\/span>Yale Transportation Options in 2007<\/span><\/a>, Yale University joined a growing number of institutions around the world who are acting on our collective responsibility to develop sustainable solutions that address the environmental impacts of our actions,\u201d said Mullen. \u201cWe have set goals to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, including a goal in the <\/span>Yale Sustainability Plan 2025<\/span><\/a> to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. We have worked to support sustainable transportation modes including transit (bus\/train), carpooling and vanpooling, biking, and walking.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Yale has 17 miles of bike lanes on a total of 20 miles of its campus roads and has one bike rack for every four people on campus. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to being a zero-emissions form of transportation, biking helps promote individual health and wellness and is a popular choice among students, faculty, and staff,\u201d said Mullen. \u201cWe wanted to ensure that facilities were available on campus to help promote biking as a healthy and sustainable way to get around.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Why now?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Bike riding on campus is definitely not a new thing. However, as sustainability becomes a bigger issue for everyone, bike riding has grown to be more than just an individual\u2019s choice; it is one of the important platforms encouraged by university officials. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, being a greener campus is not only an ethical but also an enticing feature attracting numbers of prospective students. According to a survey by the <\/span>Princeton Review<\/span><\/a>, out of more than 10,000 teens and parents surveyed, 64 percent said knowing how committed a school is to the environment would influence their decision to apply to or attend the university. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing an explosion in bike activity,\u201d Julian Dautremont-Smith, associate director of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, a nonprofit association of colleges and universities, recently <\/span>told the New York Times<\/span><\/a>. \u201cIt seems like every week we hear about a new bike sharing or bike rental program.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

An established league like the League of American Bicyclists that can honor and guide universities properly also contributes to how strong and lasting this trend might be. For example, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a renewing Silver BFU, depends on the league\u2019s <\/span>Smart Cycling Quick Guide<\/span><\/a> at campus tabling events to teach its community about the rules of the road. <\/span><\/p>\n