UMD, Increasing Bike Share and the Gender Gap

John sent me a link to this article in the Diamondback about the University of Maryland's efforts to increase the number of students who bike.

A bike count conducted in October found the total number of bicycle users on the campus had increased marginally from last year’s 5.1 percent, causing worries that officials won’t be able to meet a goal to increase that number to 9 percent by 2012. A campus bike plan approved last year laid out a number of ways to increase cycling, including adding bike lanes, creating a bicycle advisory group and increasing bike parking.

“Overall, we want to increase the number of female cyclists on the campus,” Department of Transportation Services Director David Allen said. “Part of [Assistant to the Director of DOTS Beverly Malone’s] plan is to increase the number of female bikers. I have no reason to believe she won’t achieve that.”

“When we surveyed people about why they don’t bike, a lot of people cared about hygiene,” she said. “For women especially — when you put on a helmet, you mess up your hair.”

Women account for only 1 in 5 cyclists on campus. You're probably better off riding without a helmet, than not riding at all.

It sounds like some bike lockers or bike rooms are needed.

“I don’t want to have the responsibility of taking care of a bike, since it would always have to be outside,” Melandri said. “I would have to make sure it’s always there and that no one took it.”

Next semester, DOTS officials hope adding more bike parking, continuing to hand out stronger U-Locks for bikes and holding a biker education week in April will encourage students to bike instead of driving.

But members of the bicycle advisory group don’t believe enough is being done to ensure the department is going to meet its goals.

Comments

[Right Honorable John]

how about they give out bikes? There's no way that such a move would be any more expensive than giving out an ipod nano to every student.

[Froggie]

On a related note, here's a comment I heard (and this is verbatim) from a lady at last night's Alexandria meeting:

"If it's not a dedicated bike lane, I'm afraid of traffic."

[Jon]

I wish they had addressed the issue of bike routes in the surrounding area. I'm being selfish here, since I live in the area, but am not affiliated with the University. Nevertheless, the fact that Rte. 1 and Adelphi are not particularly bike-friendly (and there aren't great alternatives) discourages students/employees from bike commuting.

[SJE]

Weren't there recent (last few months) articles on Washcycle about the lack of safe routes through UMD campus?

If it is relatively unsafe and there is no secure place to lock your bike, then is it any wonder that few people bike?

[Laura]

My undergrad implemented a really successful, low-tech bike share using a system similar to the library check-out for laptops. There were only about two dozen bikes available (it was a small student body), but offering that kind of free service certainly encouraged students to ride bikes. It also eliminated concerns about bike maintenance since work-study students or cycling club members took care of up-keep.