Today in Bruin Plaza is the UCLA Bike Fair, the most visible of
several Bike to Campus Week activities. The fair features partial
bicycle tune-ups, maps and lots of bike-related information.
While the bike fair is an annual event, 2005 will likely be
remembered as a pivotal year in UCLA Transportation Services’
efforts to improve cycling conditions and promote the bicycle as a
viable transportation mode to, from and around campus. And
we’re not just spinning our wheels.
One of the key goals of Bike to Campus Week is to encourage more
people to ride their bicycles to UCLA.
Bike-friendly changes have come partly in response to an online
survey of the cycling community conducted last fall by
Transportation Services. About 1,700 cyclists responded, an
impressive number given that only 1 to 2 percent of UCLA employees
and 2 to 3 percent of students bike to campus.
The campus is becoming more cycle-friendly, with new bicycle
racks and the availability of enclosed bike parking lockers and
low-priced shower and locker access.
To continue their positive promotion of cycling, Transportation
Services is setting up policies, coordinating several specific
bicycle services, and providing the infrastructure to support and
accommodate bicycling.
To infuse new skills and give greater confidence to students and
staff considering riding their bikes to campus, this Saturday
Transportation Services is offering an on-campus, four-hour
“Street Skills” bike safety course, which will be
taught by a League of American Bicyclists-certified instructor for
a nominal fee.
It all starts with a plan.
Following through on a commitment made in UCLA’s 2002 Long
Range Development Plan, Transportation Services is completing
UCLA’s first written Bicycle Master Plan. We expect to have
the plan completed by late summer 2005 and begin implementation
during fall quarter 2005.
The plan will serve as the blueprint for improving bicycling
conditions on the UCLA campus for years to come. One key aim of the
plan will be to develop strategies and educational programs to
improve bicycle-riding safety and increase the numbers of Bruin
bicycle commuters.
The master plan is being guided by input and prioritization from
a number of campus organizations and departments.
There have been significant contributions provided by
UCLA’s Bicycle Advocacy Committee, a campus group that has
consistently lobbied for improved cycling conditions, and by more
than two dozen campus bicycle commuters who attended an outreach
meeting late last year.
Much like bicycling itself, with this plan a sense of balance is
required.
Improvements for Bruins currently riding to campus or
considering it include those already accomplished this year and
others that will take more time simply by their nature, such as
working with the City of Los Angeles to add new bike routes to
campus.
Here’s what is available now: Staff and faculty bicycle
riders can purchase “commuter passports” entitling them
to use showers and lockers at the Student Activity Center and at
the Fit Center South near Structure 32. Students already have
access to showers as part of registration fees.
New inverted-U-shaped bike racks have been installed at
Engineering I, the Factor Building and the Strathmore Building.
More racks will be installed during the coming months.
Fully enclosed and lockable bicycle storage lockers have been
installed in Lots 5 and 7, with Lot 2 to be completed next.
These lockable structures are available for a nominal rental fee
and feature state-of-the-art online reservations.
In addition to improving cycling conditions at UCLA and
promoting bicycling as a viable transportation alternative,
Transportation Services is working to further increase the number
of bike riders who can reach campus by linking bike riding to other
alternative transportation options.
For example, riding a bicycle for part of the commute trip and
riding a bus for the remainder is one option. All public transit
buses coming to Westwood have bike racks and offer this great
opportunity to combine bikes and buses.
Now more than ever before, biking to campus is on the radar
screen of viable commute options, in addition to public transit,
carpools and vanpools.
With good spring weather, better on-campus bicycle amenities and
high prices at the gas pumps, it may be time for you to shift
gears.
Corbett is manager of UCLA Transportation Services’
transportation planning and analysis unit and regularly commutes to
campus by bike. For more information about the Street Skills course
or the other accommodations described, e-mail
[email protected].