Bike Awareness

Towards the end of high school, I had an increasing interest in bicycles stemmed from a social movement in today's youth to ride bikes with fixed gears, or 'fixies'. At some point along the road, these bicycles became a status indicator for the elite, too-cool kids who could not afford a car. As more people began riding them, people who had cars began bicycles instead, not so much because it's environmentally friendly or personally healthy, but because of the social aspect. Though, they probably wouldn't admit to that.

But I digress. The point I'm trying to make is that a general social interest in biking creates a greater awareness as biking as an alternative mode of transportation. People have known for years that cycling is better for the environment and our health, but continue to drive to their community meetings about pollution. It seems that simply knowing isn't enough to motivate people to change. That said, I'd like to examine a couple potential options to foster more of an interest in using bicycles around campus and would

1. BIKE CLUB. Simple as that. When I was a freshman, there was a bike club here at oxy and it was great. We would ride to various events put on by other cyclists throughout LA that included movies at parks, vegan potlucks, and for the truly committed, even a race or two. The bike club was disbanded after the senior who ran it graduated, and sadly, nobody took it upon themselves to keep it going. But the idea of having a social group within Oxy that promotes bike use and connects with an even larger population of bike riders throughout LA would definitely generate interest in the oxy community.

Side note: LA cyclists are very nice people, by the way. I got a flat riding to an event one time and there were 6 people who quickly jumped in and were ready to repair my tire. But they didn't stop at just fixing it. They undid the work and then made me do it myself so I could learn how.

2. More bike racks on campus. I know we already discussed this and it will most likely happen, but I wanted to mention that it can generate more interest in riding bikes and here's why: it sends a message. When I roll up to USC or UCLA, I see rows upon rows of bmx's, track bikes, fixies, and especially beach cruisers. Granted, these campuses are larger and have more students, but at the same time, look at it from the point of someone who does not have a bike there. It brings an awareness of the potential to use a bike as well as the social facilitation in that the person is assured that they won't be "that one kid who rides their bike around campus."

3. Providing students with information regarding local destinations and safe bike routs to them. Nothing beats a handy bike road map if you're trying to get somewhere without having to cross freeways, go through bad parts of town, etc. Plus when students are informed of cool places that are close by and fun to ride to, it provides options for people without cars to explore parts of LA safely and easily. This could be a sort of... add-as-you-go type thing in that as people learn of new cool rides, they could post a description of it, distance, time, difficulty of a ride etc. for others to look at.