This week, university police will start ticketing students who ride bikes, skateboards or scooters in dismount zones such as Bruin Walk and Bruin Plaza – a policy that seems gratuitous.
It has not been decided how much each ticket will cost, but when the no-wheels policy was first implemented in 2009, UCPD could fine students up to $202.
The big-picture issue with the ticketing policy is that it contradicts UCLA’s efforts to develop a bike-friendly campus.
Rather than ticketing students, the university could better promote alternate bike lanes that students could use to get to campus. Meanwhile, students should take the initiative to use these routes to avoid endangering pedestrians on Bruin Walk.
After all, there is good intention behind the decision to start ticketing students who ride in designated dismount zones.
Because of accidents and complaints from pedestrians about dangerous situations, UCPD saw the need to start ticketing, since other attempts to prevent students from riding in dismount zones did not create a change in behavior, said Nancy Greenstein, a spokeswoman for UCPD.
In 2009, the university set up signs to mark different dismount zones around campus, making it possible for police to cite or warn students not walking their bikes, skateboards or scooters in the zones. UCPD rarely handed out tickets since the installation of the signs, opting to issue warnings instead.
But there is another solution, hinted at by students who chalked a bike path on Bruin Walk when the no-wheels policy was first established.
Though a bike lane on Bruin Walk would be impractical, this board encourages UCLA to promote bike lanes leading to campus that students who cycle, skateboard or scooter can use.
Since dismount zones on campus were first created, new developments have been made for bicyclists and skateboarders, such as the addition of a designated bike lane in the Strathmore tunnel last quarter.
Signs could be set up that funnel bikers to the Strathmore tunnel or to Charles E. Young Drive.
UCLA Transportation has rightly focused on addressing the needs of bike users, including the finalization of a bicycle master plan in 2006. The plan outlines an objective to develop a campus bikeway network that minimizes conflict between bicyclists and pedestrians and vehicles.
Ticketing cyclists and others who ride in dismount zones would be a step backward from all of this.
Notably, while UCLA should make an effort to make these other paths visible for those who ride to campus, it is also up to students to utilize these routes. Together, the university and students can make Bruin Walk safer – and make UCLA more bike-friendly.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board.