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Ivy League Goes Green with Bicycle Friendly Universities
Yale and Princeton are already among the nation’s elite colleges. Now they’re among the top universities when it comes to bicycling, too. Today the League announced the designation of nine new Bicycle Friendly Universities, growing the program to 44 colleges in 25 states. Click here to see the full list.
“Just like many students aspire to an Ivy League education, a growing number of college students want their university to be smart about biking, too” say League President, Andy Clarke. “Young adults want to drive less and ride more — and they’re choosing schools, like Yale and Princeton, that are making bicycling a vibrant part of campus life.”
Bicyclist Appreciation Breakfast at Yale University
At Yale, a new Bronze level BFU, bicycling is on the rise, thanks to both a student and a departmental bike sharing system; “commuter counseling” for the Yale community, an annual Bicyclist Appreciation Breakfast and more. “With Yale’s dedicated leadership in sustainability, creating a safe and attractive environment at Yale for bicyclists and reducing single occupancy vehicle usage in the city are goals for us and many in our community,” said Holly Parker, Yale’s Director of Sustainable Transportation. “We’re grateful for the attention this award will draw to the extraordinary combined efforts of the City of New Haven, local advocacy through Elm City Cycling, and the university. Together, we will continue making a difference.”
At Princeton, also a Bronze BFU, new students get information about bicycling in their welcome packets, introducing them to the large network of campus paths, weekly bike maintenance classes, plentiful bike parking, free bike locks and the wide array of U-Bikes and CycLab programs and events. “Princeton is honored to become part of the Bicycle Friendly University program,” said Andrea DeRose of the University’s Transportation & Parking Services. “The University encourages biking as an efficient mode of transportation for faculty, staff and students — and strives to increase the number of bicycle-related facilities and bicycle-related polices on campus.”
University of Utah Bicycle Collective tables on campus
Also in this round, the University of Utah shot up the ranks to a Silver designation in its first application. With innovative on-road facilities, bicycle-related academic course offerings, a successful anti-theft campaign, on-campus bike rental and bike collective, and a wealth of pro-cycling policies, the Utes aren’t stopping at Silver.
“Bikes and their riders are not strangers here at the University of Utah — over the years cycling has gathered more attention as a healthy and sustainable mode of active transportation,” said Heidi Goedhart, the university’s Bicycle Coordinator. “We’re conveniently situated within a Silver Bicycle Friendly Community that is surrounded by excellent mountain bike and road bikeways, as well as a growing cycling community. With the adoption of our new Bicycle Master Plan, we have proven our commitment to planning the university’s future with bicycles by outlining a set of clear goals and objectives.”
To learn more about the program or apply, check out www.bikeleague.org/university.
Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director
Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.
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October 30th, 2012 at 9:40 am
No mention of Cornell? It was the first Bicycle Friendly Ivy!
November 5th, 2012 at 3:47 pm
Interesting selection of Cornell in horizontally challenged Ithaca, NY. My thoughts from 2010 were that Cornell had significantly less bicycles on the streets compared with colleges/universities in the Washington, DC area. At the time I assumed that commuting up and down the long hill climbs, such as University Ave., from downtown was a deterrent to most would-be-cyclists who attend Cornell. It certainly was uncomfortable for me on a fixed gear. If you never have to ride up to Cornell from center of Ithaca with 20+ lbs of texts in a carrying bag then you will probably get used to it. Certainly a challenge though.