Whether you have admired someone zipping by or nearly been knocked down, it is hard to miss all bikers on DU’s campus. Though I prefer to fast walk from place to place, everyone has their chosen form of transportation around campus. You’d think with such an active population (DU even has their own traveling bike mechanic) that we’d be a little more supportive of that community. And it is not only our DU campus, but the Denver city at large that is less than accommodating. Every bicyclist deserves a spot to lock their bike on campus and the citizens of Denver deserve to have the option to get around with alternative forms of transportation. We demand more bike racks and we demand more bike paths.
Not that there are many unsustainable ways of getting around campus, but alternative transportation in general is always a good thing to promote. Primarily for the environment, but even a little for our health. Riding bikes and the like saves us from using fossil fuels and burns calories simultaneously. In a world that is being overwhelmed with pollutants and a population that is becoming increasingly obese, a non-greenhouse gas emitting and muscle-moving activity seems like a positive choice.
To uphold our commitment to sustainability and to our students, DU should be taking steps towards a more bike friendly campus. And to become the more sustainable city the world is asking us to be, Denver should expand its bike routes.
Progress begins with more bike racks. And we’re already on it; the Center for Sustainability is currently working on a campaign to get more bike racks on campus. This has become a necessary action for one primary reason: the racks we have are overcrowded. People are getting active and getting sustainable so let’s reward them with a spot to lock their bike.
DU has also taken the initiative to protect its bikers after an increasing number of motor vehicle on cyclist collisions with the new Heads Up campaign. Stop texting, quit putting on your make-up, eat later and pay attention to the road. As reported on Distraction.gov, in 2010 over 380,000 people were injured from collisions involving distracted driving and several thousand were killed. You do not want to end up on one of those depressing commercials telling the nation how you killed three kids and you certainly do not want to have your life ended because of someone else’s unnecessary bad habit.
This is another reason bike paths are so crucial, as they would enable cyclists to avoid traffic. Denvergov.org reports that, “The city of Denver has over 100 miles of multi-use trails, 96 miles of bike lanes and 41 miles of sharrows.” This ranks us at number 12 in the country, nine spots behind Boulder, which came in as number 3. Though our national ranking is not that scandalous it still seems pretty difficult to get around on my bike. Our paths need to be more easily accessible and connect us to more sensible and essential locations, like perhaps the Whole Foods Market on Washington Street. We should feel like the world is our bike-able oyster and scoff at the idea of needing a car.
Our students are awesome for using their bikes, so let’s reward them with bringing in some new bike racks. Though I wouldn’t mind if some people slowed down on their vehicles, maybe they can’t right now because it’s so hard to find a spot. And the citizens of Denver, myself included would, if we could, use our bikes but need an infrastructure. So let’s show the world and Boulder just how sustainable and bike-friendly we can be. In order to demonstrate sustainability and support, responsibility and concern these are the steps we need to take as a campus and as a city.
