The League of American Bicyclists has again recognized the University of Rochester with a silver level Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) award. The program recognizes institutions of higher education for promoting and providing a more bikeable campus for students, staff, and visitors through the evaluation of five primary areas: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement, and evaluation.
The University is one of 37 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly universities and colleges nationwide. There are now 221 colleges and universities in 47 states and the District of Columbia creating campuses more welcoming to people who bike. The University earned its first silver designation in 2018 and a bronze designation in 2015.
The Department of Transportation and Parking Management coordinates the University’s biking program, which focuses on encouraging alternative transportation options that can reduce parking demand and congestion on campus while reducing commuting costs for employees and promoting sustainability efforts for the University.
Among the new initiatives that contributed to the BFU silver recognition include the installation of two fully enclosed bike stations located on the ground level of the hospital garage. The bike stations offer weather protection, space saver bike racks, self-service repair stations, and 24/7 access. In addition, a covered bike rack with solar-powered lighting was installed on Library Road for bike commuters. It provides 40 vertical bike slots and ten ground bike slots, while protecting from adverse weather conditions. With these enhancements and other bike racks, the University has increased the number of bike parking spaces on campus to more than 1,500.
The University has seen more bicycle use on campus with the addition of the HOPR bike share program. Combined with its bicycle safety and bicycle maintenance lunchtime seminars provided by league instructors, there has been a surge of interest from both staff and students in getting around by bike.
Visit www.bikeleague.org/university for more information on the 2022 Bicycle Friendly University awards and www.rochester.edu/parking/bike for details on the University’s biking programs.