You are here
Bike Funding Needs
Posted by Morgan White on May 9, 2014
In 2011, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was recognized as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) by the League of American Bicyclists. This was in large part a result of efforts by Facilities & Services in cooperation with community partners, including the Bicycle Friendly Cities of Urbana and Champaign and Champaign County Bikes, which is dedicated to making Champaign County the most bicycle friendly county in the Midwest. The Student Sustainability Committee, Illinois Student Senate, and Dean of Students have added funding.
The BFU Bronze status expires in 2015, and campus needs to address several bicycle-related items in order to maintain Bronze status or achieve the Silver designation. Key points, status, timing, and approximate long-term funding needs are below.
|
Task |
Status |
Timing |
Long-term Funding Needs |
|
Approve Campus Bike Plan |
final edits underway, then routing for approval from F&S and Campus |
30-Jun-14 |
use existing staff time |
|
Improve bikeway network |
integrating some of these with street and capital projects, seeking grants |
five to ten years |
approximately $4 Million |
|
Upgrade bike parking |
over 150 parking locations are not up to acceptable standards |
three to five years |
approximately $400K |
|
Adopt Campus Bike Code and bike registration system |
final edits underway, then routing for approval; costs include tracking citations, and handling registration |
approve by June 30, 2014 |
$5-$20k/year recurring |
|
Campus Bicycle Coordinator over programs such as bike sharing and ambassadors |
no funding available, currently managed part-time by a team of F&S |
needed |
$45k/year recurring |
|
Bicycle Education maps, materials and classes |
currently offered by the Campus Bike Center and Champaign County Bikes |
ongoing |
$5-$10k/year recurring |
|
Campus Bike Center advocacy, education, and encouragement |
recurring events, in collaboration with Champaign County Bikes and student advocacy groups |
needed |
$50k/year recurring |
With increasing ridership over the last decade and an average of 5,000 bikes on campus during a typical hour, it is clear that bicycle-related needs should not be ignored. Bikeway improvements, parking upgrades, and a new bike code are in progress now; however, to keep the Bicycle Friendly status, campus should allocate $50,000 in FY15 for the Campus Bike Center (a collaboration between campus and The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign).
The Bike Center distributes UI registration stickers; maintains Bike Fix-it Stations; provides a central base for the bicycling community on campus; encourages mode-shift through various events and classes throughout the year; distributes educational resources regarding bicycling; educates students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors about basic bicycle maintenance; and collaborates with campus and community partners in bicycle-related programs. By keeping the Bike Center open, campus can spread awareness about the many improvements, increase safety, sustainability, and health on campus, and continue to offer education and encouragement events this coming year.
