SBU Designated Bicycle Friendly University By The League of American Bicyclists
November 14, 2014
By Ryan Wolf
In November 2014, Stony Brook University was designated as a Bicycle Friendly University at the Bronze Level by The League of American Bicyclists. The designation was awarded to the University as a result of its remarkable commitment to bicycling. The Bicycle Friendly University (BFU℠) program recognizes institutions of higher education for promoting and providing a more bikeable campus for students, staff and visitors. The program is led by the League of American Bicyclists, which was founded in 1880 to unite cyclists and make biking better. The BFU program provides the roadmap and technical assistance to create great campuses for cycling, and bases its’ assessments on five areas; namely a university’s engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement and planning of their bicycle program.
In the program, the Bronze Level award is given to universities that are taking important steps to address all of the five areas assessed by the League of American Bicyclists with the most significant progress in two of the areas. The Bronze Level designation is in effect from 2014 to 2018, and lasts for four years at which time Stony Brook University is able to renew at the same level or apply future biking upgrades/services to receive a higher designation. Among various biking amenities, SBU offers the expansive Paul Simons Memorial Bike Path, Wolf Ride Bike Share, multiple bike storage lockers, thousands of bike racks as well as the Freewheel Collective. The University also celebrates the use of bikes as alternate forms of transportation during Car Free Day LI, which is a day dedicated to encouraging the use of alternate modes of transportation instead of single occupancy vehicles.
Recently, Stony Brook University has expanded biking related services and amenities in order to further encourage the community to use bicycles to navigate the campus. In summer 2014, SBU grew the Wolf Ride Bike Share to a total of 8 solar powered stations and 60 bicycles, and the University also added bike storage lockers to the SAC Circle and South Campus. In addition, the designation also credits the University for offering the employee HeathierU wellness program and for funding bike related services. “We are very proud of our new Bicycle Friendly University designation as we look to continually offer enhanced biking services – which help the community navigate the campus in an environmentally friendly manner.” Described James O’Connor, Director of Sustainability & Transportation Operations.
Bicycle Friendly University is a nationwide program which reviews applications from universities from all 50 states to determine the extent that each promotes biking on their campus. Nationwide, 100 Universities from 37 states and the District of Columbia have been designated as Bicycle Friendly Universities and Stony Brook University joins five other colleges in New York State who have been recognized by The League of American Bicyclists.
For additional information on this initiative, please contact:
Stony Brook University
Office of Sustainability
E-Mail: sustainability@stonybrook.edu