Cal Poly Named a 2017 Bicycle Friendly University by League of American Bicyclists

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly has been named a Bicycle Friendly University by the League of American Bicyclists, recognizing the university’s work toward projects, policies and programs that exhibit a strong commitment to cycling.

Cal Poly was recognized for the first time as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly University, joining a cutting-edge group of more than 180 colleges and universities across the U.S. that are providing more bicycle-friendly campuses for the benefit of students, staff, faculty and community members.

“This award recognizes Cal Poly for all the things we are doing on campus and gives us some ideas on how to increase the number of people who are riding to and from campus,” said Marlene Cramer, associate director of Transportation and Parking Services. “Our current ‘My Other Car Is’ campaign highlights bicycling as one of the many sustainable, popular options to commute to campus. This school year, we were excited to partner with Associated Students Inc. to install 500 new bicycle parking spaces around campus in an effort to make it more bicycle friendly.”

The Bicycle Friendly University Program evaluated universities’ efforts to promote bicycling in five areas: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement and evaluation/planning.

With about 7,515 bicycle parking spaces on campus, Cal Poly currently provides one bike spot for every three people who study or work on campus. Bike commuters can find a variety of places to lock their bike — including covered bike parking and long-term storage over academic breaks — as well as reduced speed limits on campus streets, car-free zones and bright-green bike lanes.

Bicycle safety information is distributed annually to incoming students, faculty and staff, as well as during an annual bike auction held by the University Police Department. Cal Poly promotes “bike pooling” to help new riders identify safe routes to campus during national bike month in May and awards quarterly incentives to staff and faculty who post their commutes in SLO Regional Rideshare’s Back ‘N’ Forth Club.

Cal Poly’s Bike and Pedestrian Safety Committee — composed of law enforcement, student government, student civil engineers, faculty and staff — serves as the university’s advocacy group and clearinghouse for bike-related issues and growth planning. Campus officials are also exploring options to bring a bike-sharing program to campus.

In addition, Transportation and Parking Services and ASI partnered to fund $48,000 worth of new bike racks in the 2017-18 academic year. Many of the 500 additional bike parking spaces were added during fall quarter to key areas around campus, with the rest to be placed during winter break or early in winter quarter.

The ASI Craft Center also offers weekly bicycle repair classes and twice-weekly bike advice classes and has five bike repair stands that students can use whenever the Craft Center is open. Bike repair items, including tubes, patch kits and cables, are also available for purchase.

Cal Poly will maintain its 2017 award through 2021, at which time the university can reapply to the Bicycle Friendly University program to either maintain or improve its award status.

There are 17 Bicycle Friendly Universities in California, the most of any state in the U.S. There are now 182 Bicycle Friendly Universities in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

“From renewing Platinums to brand new Bronzes, this latest class of Bicycle Friendly University awardees show a wonderful commitment to safety, health and sustainability through their efforts to support bicycling on campus,” said Amelia Neptune, director of the League’s Bicycle Friendly America Program. “We applaud this round of Bicycle Friendly Universities for raising the standard and being innovative in making bicycling a safe, convenient and enjoyable option for students, staff and visitors alike.”

To learn more about the free Bicycle Friendly University program, visit www.bikeleague.org/university.

To learn more about bicycle parking and other transportation programs at Cal Poly, visit the Transportation and Parking Services website at https://afd.calpoly.edu/parking/.

Contact: University Police Chief George Hughes
805-756-6650; grhughes@calpoly.edu