LibrariesGoSolaruLearnWebMailDirectoryMapEventsIndex

Bicycling for Transportation at Georgia State University


Overview of Bicycling For Transportation at Georgia State University

PI: John A. Steward, jsteward@gsu.edu, phone 404-413-1137
Student lead: Nancy Pope, npope28@gmail.com
Institution: Georgia State University
Project Period: August, 2009 to August, 2010
Funder: USEPA, P3 Challenge Grant Program

Objective:

  • The goal is to increase utilitarian bicycle use on the downtown college campus and improve infrastructure to support bicycling.
  • We will investigate and address the barriers to bicycle use and develop a program of encouraging bicycles at Georgia State University.

Background:

  • Effective urban transportation means that a variety of transportation modes are available. Use of bicycles for transportation is important to environmental improvement, public health and sustainable transportation. Bicycling reduces air pollution by replacing automobiles and reduces vehicle congestion.
  • University communities are more likely to commute by bicycle than city dwellers. However, a downtown urban university campus poses unique challenges for those who use bicycles for transportation. Downtown campus environments often lack acceptable facilities for securing and storing bicycles at destinations. There is often resistance to increasing bicycle facilities because of negative perceptions about bicycle racks (aesthetically unappealing, not secure, and damage to property).
  • Potential bicycle users often face barriers due to perceptions that bicycling on downtown streets is unsafe, lack of facilities for unanticipated bicycle repairs, and lack of awareness of bicycle facilities.

Approach:

  • The project will be student led and conducted, with significant support from faculty.
  • It will investigate student, faculty, and staff perceptions and attitudes regarding utilitarian bicycle use, as well as the perceptions of the downtown business community regarding bicycling and bicycle racks. Observations and surveys will be conducted to measure changes in bicycle use on campus and to compare attitudes and perceptions of the bicycle racks before and after the project.
  • It will investigate information, policies, and environmental changes necessary to overcome negative perceptions by providing information to both current and potential riders.
  • A contest to design aesthetically pleasing, highly-functional, and secure bicycle racks will be conducted to encourage student interest in bicycle facilities and to increase acceptance of bicycle racks as public art.
  • A campus facility will be developed to allow bicycle users to obtain minor repairs.
  • Geographic information systems will be used to analyze the patterns of bicycle use and to identify locations for providing improved bicycle rack locations in the downtown area.

Expected Results:

  • The project will engage the university arts community in environmental sustainability, and the placement of artistic bike racks will increase awareness that bicycling is a feasible and appropriate means of transportation.
  • The individuals either bicycling for transportation of considering bicycling as a means of transportation will increase.
  • The project directly addresses the goals of the Clean Air Act and other environmental programs that seek to reduce the health and environmental costs from transportation.
  • The project will also promote health by increasing the likelihood for engaging in physical activity.

About the EPA P3 program:
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the auspices of the Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), invites submissions to the 7th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability. P3 focuses on scientific projects and engineering designs that address the three components of sustainability: people, prosperity and the planet. The P3 Program is intended to support science-based designs developed by interdisciplinary student teams that benefit people by improving their quality of life, promote prosperity by developing local economies, and protect the planet by conserving resources and minimizing pollution. Additional details about EPA’s sustainability research can be found in EPA’s Sustainability Research Strategy (2007) (http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/pdfs/EPA-12057_SRS_R4-1.pdf  (72 pp, 1.37 MB)) which presents the role of EPA’s Office of Research and Development in improving understanding of the earth’s natural and man-made systems, assessing threats to those systems, and developing and applying new technologies and decision support tools.