Rack ’em up

Due to a rise in numbers of bikes around campus, Cal State Long Beach officials are adding bike racks, considering adding bike paths and even instituting a bike loan program.

Facilities Management director Robert Quirk said he realized something had to be done when “bike racks on campus appeared to be overflowing.”

Now, an estimated $5,000 project will add eight bike racks and replace others on the CSULB campus.

“We have ordered about 25 new bike racks because some are old and beaten up, but we just need them because bikes are showing up everywhere,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander.

The plan will be funded by CSULB revenue and outside grants to the university. The project is expected to be complete by the end of winter break, according to Quirk.

These racks will add to the 50 already available on campus.

Natalia Bretado, a senior criminal justice major who takes classes during some of the busiest times of the week, is thankful action has been taken regarding this issue.

“There would sometimes be no space for me to lock my bike anywhere,” Bretado said, “and I don’t want to just leave it tied to a tree.” 

Alexander understands the problems of bicyclists on campus. “Right now, for the first time, I think our campus is starting to think and realize that we need to be a bike-friendly campus, and I agree,” he said.

In addition to bike racks, Alexander met with City of Long Beach officials on Friday to discuss creating bike paths from Brooks College to CSULB. Alexander said the city is receptive of the bike path idea, but that “they just haven’t thought about it either.”

“I already know there are a couple of places that are pretty conducive to biking and walking together,” Alexander said. “One is between George Allen field and the intramural fields where we have a utility road, but then we have to get students in there.”

University Police Chief Stan Skipworth said the project was initiated after observing current trends, which indicated a “growing number of students on bikes,” probably attributed to the “overwhelming” cost of gas.

Quirk said he especially appreciates the bikers because they help control campus traffic and free up parking spaces.

This idea of expanding bike use is reaching beyond CSULB and spreading across university campuses nationwide, according to Katie Zezima of The New York Times.

Her article, “With Free Bikes, Challenging Car Culture on Campus,” explains how many college campuses are striving to “change the car culture that clogs campus roadways and erodes the community feel that comes with walking or biking around campus.”

Zezima mentions many schools in her article, including the University of New England, Mercer University, Ripon University and the University at Buffalo, all which have invested in some type of bike-share program for students.

Quirk said there are talks of a loaner bike program surfacing, which will distribute used bikes that have been recovered on campus to students who may want to commute by bike, but do not have the extra cash to purchase one themselves.

Alexander emphasized safety as a key issue with students biking on campus. He explained in an interview that there are universities throughout the world that haven’t planned for large populations of student bicyclists.

“Oxford is a great example,” Alexander said. “Thousands of students ride bikes, and if you’re not careful students get run over all the time. There are no bike paths in Oxford either, and I remember when I was a student there, I think we had seven students killed in those little tiny inland roads. When the sun goes down at four o’clock, busses don’t see them and there’s no bike paths.”

Alexander said that lighting on Atherton Street and Palo Verde Avenue will help students bike safely around campus.

Students are encouraged to offer suggestions for the bike project to Associated Students, Inc.

“We want to do whatever we can to make things safe and easy for our bikers,” Quirk said.