The University’s efforts to promote sustainability and alternative transportation are paying off, as the League of American Bicyclists named the University the recipient of the silver Bicycle Friendly University designation in December. This is the first year the designation has been awarded to the University.
“The designation is a wonderful acknowledgement of the ongoing, collaborative effort of many at LSU to make this a more bicycle-friendly campus,” Executive Director of Facility and Property Oversight Tammy Millican said. “It’s one of LSU’s largest efforts to support alternative transportation for students, faculty and staff.”
The League of American Bicyclists has awarded the designation to only 164 universities over the program’s five-year existence. According to the league, the Bicycle Friendly University program evaluates universities’ efforts to promote bicycling in five major areas: engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement and evaluation/planning.
The awards fall into one of five categories: honorable mention, bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Currently, the University is only one of four communities in Louisiana to receive a Bicycle Friendly designation.
The University has promoted bicycling as an alternative form of transportation in the past with events such as the annual bike auction, though it was discontinued in spring 2016. However, the University continues to promote bicycling on campus by including bicycle lanes on campus roads, installing more bike racks around campus and closing central campus to make room for bikes, Millican said.
The University is also working on new programs, such as partnering with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to bring a bike share program to campus.
“That got us some points on the application,” Millican said, “There are a lot of things we’re working on that got us the silver designation.”
The University is also partnering with Bike Baton Rouge to hold a bike month on campus in March 2017.
This was the first year the University applied for the program, and it was one of only 51 universities to receive or renew a designation this year.
“In the future, we will be able to get a higher ranking.” Millican said. “We’re very excited to find new ways to promote bicycling on campus.”