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Bicycle Resolution

Bicycle Resolution. Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race. -- H.G. Wells, 1904. Bicycles are a good thing. We should admit that they exist, and provide facilities for them. Intra-Campus Transportation.

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Bicycle Resolution

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  1. Bicycle Resolution Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race. -- H.G. Wells, 1904 Bicycles are a good thing. We should admit that they exist, and provide facilities for them.

  2. Intra-Campus Transportation • UT campus is over 1 mile in diameter • Walking is too slow: 20-30 minutes • Campus is too congested for cars • Bus is too slow: walk to bus, wait, travel, walk to destination • Bicycle can go anywhere on campus in 5 minutes

  3. Bicycles: Efficient, Sustainable • Bicycles are 10x more efficient than cars in facilities required per person transported • 1,000 miles per gallon energy equivalent • Non-polluting • Silent

  4. Peak Oil • IEA: 6.7% annual decline in existing fields • = 50% decline in 10 years • We need to find a new Saudi Arabia every 2 years just to stay even. • That isn't going to happen! • Economic downturn inhibits exploration • Gas shortages and high prices in 2 years • No gasoline for cars in 10 years

  5. Bikes are Healthy • Estimate: 15 million obese Texans by 2040 • This generation may be the first to be less healthy than their parents • Danish study: "those who did not cycle to work experienced a 39% higher mortality" • Andersen, Arch Intern Med 160(11):1621-8.

  6. Bikes Save UT Money • Healthier employees use health insurance less often and for less serious illness • Bikes increase shuttle bus coverage, from 1/4-mile radius "beads on a wire" to 2-mile wide stripe, without adding buses.

  7. UT Policy: Abuse and Neglect • Neglect: UT has never built any facilities to aid bicycle travel on campus. • Abuse: Planning office removes routes that bicycles have used, with no replacement.

  8. A Better Policy • Bikes exist, will continue to exist, and will likely increase. • Bikes are valuable to UT and should be encouraged. • UT should provide reasonable facilities, including designated bicycle paths. • Cyclists should have a seat at the table during the planning process.

  9. Avoiding Pedestrian Conflict • Good design can produce bike paths that minimize conflict with pedestrians • "Bikes Yield to Peds" signs can help • UT lags behind peer institutions • Dismount zones are hated by cyclists • A walked bike is hazardous to pedestrians • Dismount zones are frequently ignored • Enforcing dismount zones requires expensive police and is a waste of police time.

  10. Routes on Campus • Bike routes must connect where people start and where they want to go. • Routes that are far from campus, in heavy traffic, up steep hills are not usable. • People come to campus mainly from north and west. • The most popular destinations are in center of campus. • A bike route along Speedway is essential.

  11. Proposed Policy It is the policy of UT that planning and construction of facilities on the UT campus shall include the provision of safe, usable and reasonable bicycle routes to and within campus, without obstacles inhibiting bicycle use, and providing adequate bicycle parking. The facilities should inform bicyclists that they must yield to pedestrians.

  12. Usable and Reasonable • Dismount Zones only when necessary. • No detours that are long or uphill. • Bike routes based on actual traffic that go where people want to go.

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