Add as a preferred source on Google

Bicycle-Friendly Universities

  • By Amelia Neptune
  • 12/01/14
Bicycle-Friendly Universities

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS

The numbers are clear: young adults are choosing to ride more and drive less.

That’s where the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) program comes in. An initiative of the League of American Bicyclists (bikeleague.org), the oldest bicyclist advocacy organization in the country, the BFU program has certified 100 colleges and universities in 37 states and Washington, DC, as bicycle friendly.

These BFUs include nine of the top 10 colleges and universities in the U.S., a growing number of community colleges, Ivy League standouts, land-grant institutions and many more.

The Bicycle Friendly University program recognizes these institutions of higher education for promoting and providing more bikeable campuses for students, staff and visitors. The BFU program provides the roadmap and technical assistance to create great campuses for riding. Once they are participants, institutions are recognized on a medal scale, from Bronze to Diamond.

Colleges and university campuses are unique environments for their high-density, stimulating atmosphere and defined boundaries. These factors make them ideal environments to incorporate bikes. Many colleges and universities have built upon these good conditions and embraced the enthusiasm for more bicycle-friendly campuses by incorporating bike share programs, bike co-ops, clubs, bicycling education classes and policies to promote bicycling as a preferred means of transportation. With the goal to build on this momentum and inspire more action to build healthy, sustainable and livable institutions of higher education, the League of American Bicyclists created the Bicycle Friendly University program.

The Bicycle Friendly University program evaluates applicants’ efforts to promote bicycling in five primary areas: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement and evaluation/planning, known as the Five Es.

Yale University

“Elevating Yale’s Bicycle Friendly University status from Bronze to Silver was a strategy in our Sustainability Strategic Plan, and we felt we improved our offerings for bicyclists by — among other things — bringing a 50-bicycle bike share to our campus, and increasing bicycle parking capacity,” says Holly Parker, director of Yale’s Sustainable Transportation Systems. “In New Haven, we’re extremely fortunate to have a staff in city government dedicated to improving the city’s roadways and bike parking options to make biking a safer and friendlier mode of transportation for university affiliates and local residents alike.”

Montgomery County Community College

Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) in Pottstown, PA, is a new Bronze-level BFU — and one of the first community colleges to join the growing ranks of BFUs.

“As an institution that focuses heavily on sustainability and green initiatives, becoming a Bicycle Friendly University is yet another step in the right direction,” says Gregg Heimer, MCCC Bike Advocacy committee chair. “We’re so excited that we have been awarded this recognition after three years of improvements and adding additional bike-related services around campus. Having a campus with a 100 percent commuting population, it was a challenge to get to this point, but we focused on specific areas of improvement and are extremely proud to be recognized for our advocacy. Looking forward, we hope to increase biking awareness through local partnerships, improve upon our community infrastructure to urge bike commuting to campus, and become a role model for similar community colleges across the country.”

How to Join

Any U.S. institution of higher education may apply to the BFU program, and the next deadline is August 2015. Interested in learning more? Visit bikeleague.org/university.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Amelia Neptune is the program manager for the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly University program.

Featured

  • Three U.S. Universities Install Acre Security Access Control Platform

    Cloud-native physical and digital security solutions company Acre Security recently announced that it has deployed its access control platform at three major universities in the U.S., according to a news release. Acre partnered with Atrium Campus to provide coverage for more than 69,000 students at the University of Virginia (UVA), George Mason University, and Rockhurst University.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • UC Riverside Completes $285M, Multi-School Student Housing Development

    The University of California, Riverside, recently announced the completion of a $285-million student housing complex offering 1,568 beds across 429 units, according to a news release.

  • Tennessee Tech Starts Construction on New ACME Building

    Tennessee Tech University recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Advanced Construction and Manufacturing Engineering (ACME) Building on its campus in Cookeville, Tenn., according to university news. The $89.6-million facility is the second in a recent expansion of the College of Engineering’s buildings on campus. It’s currently scheduled to open at the end of 2028.

Digital Edition