Equipped with well-used wrenches, greasy polishing cloths and an army of revamped bicycles, a group of Duke students is riding the administration for a change in the University’s cycling infrastructure.
Duke Bike Advocates organized a three-day event that started Monday and will end today, International Car-Free Day, to promote awareness of commuter cyclists on campus and encouraging the administration to improve physical support for Duke’s cyclists.
The consciousness-raising event consisted of a free bicycle repair clinic Monday and Tuesday on the Chapel Quadrangle and today’s two-and-a-half mile ride, “Pedaling for a Safe Community,” which will begin at East Campus at noon, snake through Durham and end at West Campus. The ride will culminate with the group’s presentation to the administration of six recommendations aiming to make the University more conducive to cyclists.
Several factors fueled the event’s organizers: They wanted to provide students with an alternative to driving, ameliorate the environmental consequences of automobile use and keep the Duke community in good health.
“Biking is an efficient and healthy mode of transportation that reduces carbon dioxide emissions,” said co-organizer Miguel Schwartz, a fourth-year graduate student in ecology. “Improving the infrastructure of biking on campus will encourage more people to bicycle.”
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Sam Hummel, Trinity ’03, recognized another driving force. “Parking and transportation infrastructure at Duke is expensive, and if we can put in a climate where people feel safe and encouraged to ride bicycles... that alleviates traffic and makes Duke’s climate a lot better,” he said.
Students and staff alike lined up Monday and Tuesday at the repair clinic to wait for an array of services ranging from gear tweaking to body cleaning to wheel inflation to total bicycle reconstruction. The Duke Bike Advocates repaired around 100 bicycles over the course of two days, organizers said.
Junior Alex Bates, who does not have a car at Duke, was one of the many undergraduates whose bicycle was fine-tuned by the students-turned-mechanics Tuesday afternoon.
“They really know a lot here,” he said. “I didn’t know there was such a big bicycle movement at Duke.”
The need for more initiatives to support cycling, such as paths and protected storage for bicycles, is widely recognized among the Duke’s cyclist community. Chris Lupoli, a first-year graduate student in the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, commutes both on and off campus on his bicycle and said there is room for improvement in Duke’s cycling infrastructure.
“There are no bike paths so whenever I’m biking, I’m going through crowds of people or I’m walking my bike up and down stairs,” Lupoli said. “There is no designated place for bikes on-campus.”
Justin Gilreath, a second-year student in the Divinity School, recognized a slight need for bicycle trail improvement but did not feel that it was a pressing issue.
“I don’t think that the roads around campus are conducive to cars,” he said. “I also don’t think the bicycle trails are the best, but it’s less roundabout to use a bicycle.”
The affair was funded by the Green Grant, a $50,000 grant for student, staff and faculty-initiated projects with environmental payback. It was also sponsored by the Duke University Greening Initiative, the Environmental Alliance, the Duke Outing Club, the Cycling Club and BioBikes.
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