New bicycle policy necessitates new racks

By Staff Editorial     9/17/09 7:00pm

In early 2008, the Bicycle Safety Committee came together to hammer out a bike policy that would keep bikes moving and pedestrians safe. Eighteen months later, the plan is out, with details finalized and policy enacted (see story, page 1). We look at this new policy as a necessity, for obvious reasons - there have been one too many times when we've been traipsing along the sidewalks, minding our business and chatting with friends on the phone, when a blur flashes in our periphery and, our life flashing before our eyes, we realize just how close we came to eating pavement, at no fault of our own. It's not that the passing bikers carried any malicious intent; rather, they were either distracted or saw themselves as a bit more skilled at maneuvering than we pedestrians perceived.The new policy's stipulations are both sensible and well-known. The bell-and-yell policy is nothing more than common sense, and the bike registration policy, now mandatory, has been on campus for years. The quiz that has been added is a nice touch, reminding students of the requirements before they can endeavor to ride their two-wheelers.

Speaking of two-wheelers, we would like to know when this policy will extend to other modes of transportation. When trying to avoid those same lightning-quick bicyclists, we sometimes catch bearded long-boarders going the wrong way on the Inner Loop, just as we see scooters looping through crowds of fellow pedestrians, causing as much disturbance as the bicyclists ever did. We know that the Inner Loop isn't necessarily the most dangerous place in Houston - aside from the occasional burst water main, there is little that goes awry on Rice's main vein of transportation. But if bikers are held to these new standards, shouldn't other non-motorized methods of transport be as well?

Additionally, as you are all well aware, Rice now houses the largest student body the campus has ever seen. This means that there are more potential student-bikers than ever before, but also that additional bike racks are needed. The only problem with enforcing this mandatory bike registration policy is that the bike racks are already overflowing with both registered and non-registered bikes. Because there aren't enough racks to fit the need, students park their bikes near any tree, stairway or entrance that best suits their needs. We would like to recommend the installation of more bike racks, making the new policy, which entails locking bicycles in racks, possible.

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What if the university worked with design and architecture students in creating these new racks? Not only would the campus reach the necessary allotment for racks, but the beautification of campus would be augmented.

Plus, if the new racks were especially striking, maybe it would force those bikers to slow down to check them out. So long as it doesn't distract them into clipping a pedestrian, that is.

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