University gearing up for May 18 Bike to Work & School Day
By Steve Hill
University Week
Maybe someday it will be known as the College Coupon Classic.
Lisa Quinn, an avid bicycle commuter, is spearheading the UW’s participation in Bike to Work & School Day. The May 18 event will pit the Seattle campus against UW Bothell and five others to see which institution has the highest percentage of bike commuters.
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But for now, it’s simply a challenge between six area campuses to see who bikes most frequently as part of the annual Bike to Work & School Day. Bellevue Community College, Cascadia Community College, Seattle University, North Seattle Community College and Seattle Central Community College will be competing with the UW Bothell and the UW’s Seattle campus to see which institution has the highest percentage of bicycle commuters. Bike commuters from the winning campus earn certificates of appreciation and coupons for discounted goods at local merchants.
“The competition is a way to raise awareness,” said Lisa Quinn, the public information specialist in the Transportation Services office who is coordinating the UW effort. “It also helps us pinpoint how other schools are doing and puts us in a familiar context instead of having to compete with a Boeing or a software company.”
Cascade Bicycle Club’s 11th annual Bike to Work & School Day is Friday, May 18. Booths will be set up along the Burke-Gilman Trail and around the perimeter of campus from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. offering free mechanical inspections, merchandise giveaways and the chance to enter a drawing for prizes from local bike shops.
The event is the grand finale in a series of bicycling related events sponsored on campus throughout the spring. A bike surplus auction was held on April 24 and a biking safety class was offered as well. Sixty bike helmets will be sold for just $8 (with a U-Pass and $10 without) apiece May 14-16 in 213 Hall Health from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. And on May 16 booths will be set up on the HUB lawn from noon to 1 p.m. with peer health educators from the Wellness Center on hand to tout the health benefits of cycling and explaining the biking resources available on campus. The events are in response to a decline in the number of bicycle commuters at the UW in recent years.
According to Transportation Services figures, just 5 percent of UW commuters travel to campus on bike. That is down from a high of 8 percent in 1989.
“We just want people to try bicycling one day,” Quinn said. “We’ve done all these events leading up to the day to help prepare people.”
Quinn has organized volunteers from the UW to staff the three stations closest to campus. The UW stations will be at 25th Avenue Northeast and Blakely Avenue, 15th Avenue Northeast and 47th Street, and on the corner of Montlake Boulevard East and Northeast Pacific Street.
Mike Ramey, a medical records staff employee and longtime bus commuter, will be volunteering at one of the stations. He hopes UW employees will start to look for more energy efficient means of commuting.
“I have concerns about the overall resource crunch we find ourselves in,” he said. “Whether it’s the water table, carbon monoxide in the air, electricity, salmon, air pollution, gas prices - all of it. We have limited resources and we need to use those wisely. We’ve got to start doing more with less.”
Carole Grayson, the director and staff attorney of Student Legal Services, is another volunteer for the event. She likes to vary her commute to campus, carpooling on most days. But she also mixes in biking, walking and busing. She said she’s participating for the “good-minded fun and fresh air.”
Quinn admits that part of her enthusiasm for the event stems from her own interest in cycling. She rides both to and from campus almost every day.
“It’s a good way to start the day and it’s a great way to end the day,” she said. “It helps me hit the ground running with a clear mind. When I get here in the morning, I’m really ready to start my day.”
To learn more about Bike to Work & School Day visit http://www.biketowork.org or call 522-2453.