New York Times Article on College Bike Programs, or What if Another World Was Possible

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/education/20bikes.html?partner=permali...

A lot of you on the TBR core list probably caught this article when I forwarded it. Colleges across the United States and other countries are creating bike programs for students to discourage car use.

I have so many different thoughts about this.

First, what a great idea. Students with limited income can get a bike, cut down on traffic, get exercise and make a statement about alternative means for transportation. How could people not love this? However, in our car celebrating culture, a lot of people frown on these programs. (Seriously, check out the comments section in the article.)

There are 20.000 registered students at the University at Albany alone. The campus has it's own zip code. What if they started a bike program? How many cars could come off the road and off an already congested campus? As a SUNY Alumni, I know how awful the parking situation is there and how crowded the buses could be. To me, a bike program almost seems like it would come naturally. Imagine if all of the other campuses in the area followed suit: Sage, Saint Rose, Albany Law School and the rest. The impact could be huge.

So, this is where I encourage all of you bike crazy students, you know who you are, to approach their campuses about creating a bike program. I'm not promising that you will all get 500 dollar trek bikes for free, but maybe a bike rescue space on campus or good bikes at a reduced rate. Wouldn't that be great? Plus, if the campus had a focused bike program, there would probably be more attention paid to bike culture on campus, like better bike parking and bike lanes.

This is where I insert my cheesy philosophy on community organizing, and borrow from an old Chinese proverb: A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. In other words, people start talking to each other about how they would like to see bike culture improve in there area, their talk leads to action, and their action leads to the type of social change no one thought was possible in the past. Who knows what is possible until we try.

Anyway, it is late and I am in need of sleep. Let me know if you find anything I should post and I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this.

Cheers,
carolyn