Bike Commute Day, Duke University
Based on the League’s guidance, the university conducted an assessment of every road on campus and gave each a bicycle-friendly facelift. Today, every road at Duke has a bike lane, shoulder or “sharrow” (shared use lane marking). Duke also followed a strong recommendation of the League — adding a bicycle coordinator on staff — which was crucial in implementing new bike projects, like public awareness campaigns, promotions in student and staff publications, more bike parking and a fleet of loaner bikes. Not surprisingly, Duke moved up to a Bronze Bicycle Friendly University this spring. The improvements haven’t gone unnoticed by students, either. “I’ve appreciated the increased number of bike lanes on campus,” says Randy Best, a Duke employee and the university’s representative on the Durham Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. “I feel safer on the streets and I’m no longer tempted to use the sidewalks.” “Biking is now part of my daily routine,” says Greg Hardy, a Duke graduate student and creator of BikeDuke.com. “I originally started
commuting by bike one or two days a week, but the inherent benefits combined with the ease of biking in Durham and at Duke quickly increased my bike commuting.” Williams emphasized the usefulness of the BFU program in prioritizing a long list of possibilities for bicycle-friendly improvements. The advice and roadmap helped staff show a real return on investment and make the case to decision makers. “Understanding what a car parking space costs is an essential first step in showing the benefit of promoting bicycling to decision makers,” Williams says. “Being able to say to the university, ‘For less than the cost of one deck-parking space, we were able to make all of the roads on campus more bicycle friendly’ was huge.” Getting more people bicycling is a great way to save money and make a more livable campus. The BFU program is a resource to help get you there. Learn more at www. bikeleague.org/university.
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