Ride to raise campus bike awareness

The UConn Bike Plan Support Ride is being held on Thursday starting at 11 a.m. to promote UConn's need for a better bicycle network.

The ride, sponsored by the UConn Institute of Transportation and Engineers (ITE) and the Office of Environmental Policy (OEP), will begin in the Polo Arena Parking Lot on Horsebarn Hill. Maps of the route will be available at the starting point.

The ride is free of charge and open to anyone who wants to participate. In attendance will be the UConn mascot Jonathan though he won't be riding his bike.

He'll be riding in the truck following the bicyclists for safety precautions, "and to make noise," said Jessica Kukielka, an intern at the OEP and a 6th-semester agriculture and economic resources major.

This past fall, approximately 2,100 surveys were collected by ITE to gauge campus attitude toward biking. According to the survey results, 73 percent of respondents supported developing a bike network that would include roads, paths and lanes for bikers and 68 percent supported adding bike racks closer to buildings.

The bike ride is being held in an effort to raise awareness about the plight of bicyclists on campus, Kukielka said.

"This is going to be a very visual event," Kukielka said. "It's going to be in the middle of the day, during peak hours of traffic. If we get a huge group of bicyclists to go around, we can show just where the problems are."

The ride, which Kukielka said will last approximately 30 minutes, is not a strenuous ride and will go through the most congested parts of campus.

According to the Campus Bike Plan web site, the project goals are to, "Raise awareness on campus for the importance of considering alternative transportation ideas, especially in campus and urban settings; demonstrate the demand and need for a bicycling plan for future campus planning; work to influence campus planners to consider developing a bike lane on roads, especially on new North Eagleville Road Extension; and raise awareness of competition problems between bicycles, cars, and pedestrians."

Lisa Aultman-Hall, director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute and a coordinator of the event, is disappointed Connecticut doesn't offer bicyclists enough opportunities to ride.

"I have biked to work everywhere else I have ever lived - it is really sad that I cannot do that here," she said.

"Bicycling is a viable, healthy and clean transportation alternative that would reduce air emissions from use of cars and other vehicles," Aultman-Hall said. "Connecticut lags behind many other states in bicycling and UConn could be a state leader."

Norman Garrick, an associate professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering, is also planning to participate in the ride. "More bicycle riding means less car congestion - it is a win-win proposition," Garrick said.

"I commute to work every day by bike - winter, spring, summer and autumn," Garrick, an avid bike rider, said. "There is a great deal of latent demand on campus for making the campus more bicycle friendly - the bike ride will increase awareness of this fact."

"It will also help to build coalition of like minded individuals. So called 'alternative' transportation, like walking and bicycling, are frequently neglected by the powers that be without a concerted grass root effort to change the status quo. This bike ride is an early step towards building this grass root coalition," he said.

According to the Connecticut Transportation Institute's Web site, the team of people who organized the bike ride will be recognized for their efforts at an awards ceremony on April 22. They will be receiving a Campus Environmental Leadership Award, which will be presented by university President Philip Austin.

Refreshments will be provided for participants, and a number of prizes will be raffled off as well including a gift certificate from Alternative Spokes, a bike store in Willington, a helmet from Scott's Cyclery in Willimantic and EcoHusky T-shirts among other things.

The rain date for the bike ride is Friday.