More March Madness: Universities Secure Berth as Bicycle-Friendly Campuses

BFU-logoNew awards heat up the competition among college conferences 

Washington, D.C. – March 29, 2012 – The NCAA basketball tournament is down to the Final Four, but the bracket of Bicycle Friendly Universities (BFU) is expanding. Today, the League of American Bicyclists advanced nine new universities to the elite ranks of bicycle-friendly campuses.

“As universities compete for students and status, becoming more bicycle-friendly is a winning strategy that energizes and invigorates staff and the student body, not just in March, but year-round,” said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. “By making cycling safe and enjoyable, BFUs are both educating and empowering the next generation to adopt smarter, healthier transportation habits that will last a lifetime.”

  • Read full article here.
  • Go here to the League’s BFU page for more information.

Third Gathering of the Univ. Bike Programmers

 

Ramon Zavala, UC- Irvine and friend, Luis A. Vivanco, Ph.D., U of VT and my friend, Chris Phelan, founder of the Ride of Silence.

Third Gathering of the Univ. Bike Programmers @ the 2012 National Bike Summit

A small group of us gathered during the Natl. Bike Summit, Mar. 21st at Fausto Coppi’s Organic Restaurant one of the only bike-themed restaurants I’ve ever visited, and not just any bike theme but historic Italian racing theme after the late Italian legend Fausto Coppi.  The place is decorated with old-school bike racing photos and memorabilia.

Six New Universities Receive Bike Friendly Univ. Awards

PRESS RELEASE
October 7, 2011

Bicycle Friendly Universities Revolutionize Campus Bicycling Culture
Six New Universities are Honored

Washington, D.C. – October 10, 2011 –

The League of American Bicyclists is announcing six new Bicycle Friendly Universities (BFU) today at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. “We are pleased to see that so many of our great higher education institutions – large and small – are stepping up to meet the challenges of sustainability, safety and health, and they are doing so with the help of the Bicycle Friendly Universities program,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League. “College campuses across the country are offering students and faculty a higher quality of life as a result.” The BFU program recognizes institutions of higher education for promoting and providing a more bicycle-friendly campus for students, staff and visitors. The six new BFUs complete a successful inaugural year for the BFU program. There are now 26 BFUs in 20 states that are encouraging students and staff to travel to and on their campuses on bicycles.

Read the full press release here.

National Bike Summit 2011

A small group of us were at the National Bike Summit last week for the first round of Bike Friendly University awards.  Ariadne Scott from Stanford, David Takemoto-Weerts from UC- Davis, Beverly Malone from U-Maryland and Gus Gosselin from MSU (co-founder of the MSU Bike Project which evolved into MSU Bikes).

Photo of some of the university representatives receceiving their awards. There were some others representing some of the other universities but I didn’t know them and unfortunately we didn’t talk or have a gathering.

Here are some pics I took related to the BFU and a video of the presentation.

Also, here’s the League’s blog about the BFU awards. The official press release from the League is here.

Ariadne and I are now on the League’s Bike Friendly America advisory group and attended their annual meeting while in DC.  The group is very interested in reaching out to more universities to encourage more of them to pursue the 5 “E”s of a Bike Friendly University.  I plan to organize a phone conference soon to discuss this and other issues.

Photo courtesy Chris Eichler, League of American Bicyclists

Article by Tim Potter, MSU Bikes.

Meeting @ Pro-Walk / Pro-Bike 2010 conference

A small group of our network members had a very info-packed meeting on Sept. 13 before the Pro-Walk/ Pro-Bike conferencegot started in Chattanooga, TN.  Our notes from that meeting are here.  Other files from the conference have been added to our Yahoo group Files section in a folder named ‘ProWalk-ProBike Conference’.

Photos that I took during the conference can be viewed here:

One of the more impactful sessions I attended that would be of special interest to our network was about the dearth of college level course work in the field of Bicycle and Pedestrian Design or any aspect of bicycle and pedestrian issues.  Here are some links to more info. for the presenters of that session plus a link to a longer list of other instructors around the country:

–         Bicycle and Pedestrian Design Curriculum Expansion – http://www.otrec.us/project/279
Contact: Lynn Weigand, Director, IBPI, Portland State University

–         Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Course for Graduate Students
–         Federal Highway Administration’s University Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation
Contact: Laura Sandt, Associate Director, sandt@hsrc.unc.edu , UNC Highway Safety Research Center in Chapel Hill, NC

–         Bob Schneider and Rebecca Sanders, University of California — Berkeley, City and Regional Planning: rschneider@berkeley.edu and rebeccasanders@berkeley.edu
o   Draft Course Syllabus, Spring 2010 

Other university Course Instructor Contacts
http://www.walkinginfo.org/training/university-courses/contacts.cfm

US Bicycling Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony / Dinner

That weekend was selected for our conference due to two other big bike events happening at Davis: 1st, the City of Davis is celebrating their Centennial with some very coolhistorical bike displays and programming, and 2nd, Davis hosted the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for the Class of 2008 & banquet on Sun. Nov. 2nd. This was the first time the induction ceremony was held in the western United States. The keynote speaker was none other than one of America’s strongest (current) bike racers, Levi Leipheimer.


Keynote speaker Levi Leipheimer giving his remarks at the HOF ceremony/ banquet. Click the pic or here for more pics from that event.
Click here or the pic for more from the California Bicycle Museum’s Davis exhibit.

1st Annual Conference Nov. 1 ~2, 2008 – Davis, CA

Our first-ever conference went swimmingly well in the Capitol of USA Bicycling, Davis, CA. (Click here to go to the conference PR page archive if you’re interested in the details of that conference). Click here for the conference report (PDF).

Lots of DIY action outside the ASUCD Bike Barn

We split our time between the UC Davis Bike Barn (the oldest university-operated bike program in the USA (maybe the world?) and is undoubtedly the busiest and most advanced) and the UC Davis Transportation and Parking Services conference room. The Bike Barn’s General Manager, Robert St. Cyr, graciously hosted the group despite being very heavily involved in the California Bicycle Museum’s hosting of the US Cycling Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Nov. 2 and the exhibits for the Davis Centennial celebrations.

 

The first group in the UC Davis TAPS lobb

David Takemoto-Weerts, the Bike Coordinator at Davis, also helped out behind the scenes to make this whole conference possible. Many thanks to both Robert and David for an excellent 1st conference amidst all the hustle and bustle of everything else that happened that weekend!