IU implements bike, bus map to improve sustainability

Bikers have one less reason to worry about safety on their way to and around campus.

The IU Task Force on Campus Sustainability created a map, titled “Bloomington by Bike and Bus.” It is an interactive, alternative transportation map that will show commuters easy, safe paths to travel around campus and Bloomington.

The map is built upon the Google Maps programming interface, which allows people to see different aspects of what the map has to offer, such as bike rack locations or routes, said Michael Hamburger, co-chair of the IU Sustainability Task Force.

“The idea of alternative transportation is to provide high quality alternatives that allow members of the IU community and city to efficiently get where they want to go either by using buses, bicycles or pedestrian routes,” Hamburger said.

The Task Force conducted an IU transportation survey in spring 2008 and found lack of knowledge about safe routes was a main problem, Hamburger said.

“In general, the campus is still heavily traveled to and from by single occupancy automobile use,” he said. “So at rush hours at the beginning and end of the day, the roads get cramped with cars, and we’re using an enormous amount of valuable energy resources.”

While the Task Force hopes to encourage more bike and bus ridership, Doug Porter, IU Parking Operations parking manager, said the IU campus already has many students who choose to bike or ride the bus every day and specific bike paths may not have an effect on ridership.

“I think people that tend to bike to campus tend to take the straight route,” Porter said. “They’re going to take the shortest route whether there’s a bike path or not.”

Porter also said both the campus and city bus systems are popular among students.
“They pack those buses, so we’ve gotten a great response from students riding buses,” he said.

But for some, planned and safety-tested bike routes will help ease the worry about high traffic areas.

“It basically improves access of cyclists,” said Fred Rose, manager of the Bicycle Garage, Inc. on Kirkwood Avenue. Rose said he commutes to work by bike every day and is eagerly awaiting the finished path on Third Street.

“Right now, I have to slug it out with heavy traffic on a crumbling shoulder on a two-lane road,” he said. “So when you make it more accessible, it might help people that feel apprehensive about riding feel like now they can choose a bike and feel safe.”

Hamburger said the most important part of the map is to help educate people of their alternative resources around the community.

“I think having this information out there is one step that can help us in making people aware of what options are available and how best to make use of them,” Hamburger said.