SMCM Bike-Sharing Program
Hey Everyone.
I recently wrote an editorial about the potential bike-sharing program in the Point News. My article is against the implementation of the program. Please read the article for more details (in the most recent Point News, and I will link it at the bottom of this entry).
I emailed President O'Brien about the issue, and we are going to be meeting, probably before classes start up again. I would really like some opinions from the student body, let me know what you think about the program.
Thanks for your time.
This is the unofficial copy of the editorial, not as recently edited as the one currently in print.
Bike Sharing at SMCM - by Renee Angelo
I know I am not alone in the opposition of the bike share program that is currently being researched and developed to be implemented on our campus. With the facts provided to me from the two articles in the previous edition of the Point News and with my own research, I am hoping to present an argument that will help be a catalyst for a further discussion on the implementation of the program, and hopefully some straight answers.
Before addressing the proposed "green"ness of the bike share program, I'd like to address the actual necessity of bikes on our campus. The longest walk you might have to take on St. Mary's campus would be from Warring Commons to Calvert. The distance from Warring Commons all the way to the beach at the Point is less than one mile. The walk from south campus to north campus (housing to an academic building across route 5) is around 15 to 20 minutes. Not to make a comment on anyone who already has their own bicycle to ride to class, the 20 minute walk across campus is not a huge loss in a day's time, or something that cannot be scheduled around so that you may only make the walk twice a day. Bicycles on this campus are a matter of convenience, not necessity, especially when those who are in support of the bike share program are comparing St. Mary's campus to European cities and the University of California at Santa Barbara. One major flaw in the nature of this comparison is the student population of UC at Santa Barbara is 20,000 students. It is unreasonable to compare the impact of their bike program when our campus has 18,000 less people. I would imagine that their walking paths might be very crowded without bike paths, and that their campus is much larger to support this huge number of people, with further distances between residences and classes. In the second article, there is an attempt to compare the population of Rennes, France to St. Mary's College, with the seemingly reasonable comparison of 2,500 population of Rennes, and 2,000 students at St. Mary's College. However, Rennes is 13 square miles, while St. Mary's is less than one mile across. Even though I was unable to find a map of Rennes to figure the greatest distance, this still proves to be another unreasonable comparison in regards to the necessity of bikes on this campus.
One of the issues of concern about the implementation of this program is the how it will help our green campaign on campus, namely by reducing the number of students using their cars to get around campus. If we are trying to discourage students from driving to class or the Campus Center, there is a simpler way for doing this - ticketing cars that are parked in lots that a car does not have a parking permit for. A $20 parking ticket and/or threat of towing is a great discouragement to using a car to get around campus. I myself have received a ticket for parking in a non-allotted lot, and therefore I do not park there anymore. I knew someone in a previous year who drove to class almost every day, and never got a ticket. Simply ticketing that car would have made a great impact on that student's choice to drive to class. My point is that providing bikes will not necessarily end the usage of cars as transportation across campus, and would more likely make kids who usually walk (zero carbon emissions!) ride a bike as a matter of convenience.
If this is to be a truly green program, I would hope that is being taken into account the carbon footprint of the implementation of the program, and if the green benefits of the program will outweigh the environmental impact. Consider the carbon emissions from sending students to the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the even more numerous students and administrators sent to Europe for a week; also the emissions from the bikes being made, and shipped to our school; the labor and construction required to make new bike paths; and what type of energy will be used to power the electronic card swiping system that will be keeping track of who is borrowing bikes? From my preliminary evaluation, my hypothesis that this program for St. Mary's College is definitely not as environmentally sound as it is proposed to be.
These bike sharing programs in cities and on large university campuses do make an impact that is positive for the environment and the future of green living. However, those impacts do not translate to the small scale of St. Mary's College. I am not saying that there is no reason for students to want to ride a bike to class - it's getting colder and you want to get to class faster, it saves a few minutes in a day, gets your heart rate up, etc. However, it is not a necessity. I admit that I myself am unable to live a totally green lifestyle, and often park in the Campus Center lot when I come back from work off campus and am trying to make my 6o'clock in Kent Hall on time (and would not like to be ticketed). I think there could be a more successful and less environmentally impacting campaign to convince students to stop driving across campus as often as it currently occurs. Also, we cannot rule out that some bikes will not be trashed or that the system will be totally respected. And of course - more construction for bike paths? Will any St.Mary's students in the next 10 years experience a year without major construction?
My argument is sound, and since this is a program that affects the entire campus, it should have been proposed to the entire campus for approval (although maybe that did happen and I personally missed it - I was abroad Spring 2007). I believe my argument would have had a greater impact in those preliminary stages, where as now it seems too late after a significant amount of money has already been invested and students and faculty sent abroad. I hope that the Maggie O'Brien will respond to my argument and questions, and that myself and other students in opposition and support will be able to make an impact on whether or not this program will be implemented.
I recently wrote an editorial about the potential bike-sharing program in the Point News. My article is against the implementation of the program. Please read the article for more details (in the most recent Point News, and I will link it at the bottom of this entry).
I emailed President O'Brien about the issue, and we are going to be meeting, probably before classes start up again. I would really like some opinions from the student body, let me know what you think about the program.
Thanks for your time.
This is the unofficial copy of the editorial, not as recently edited as the one currently in print.
Bike Sharing at SMCM - by Renee Angelo
I know I am not alone in the opposition of the bike share program that is currently being researched and developed to be implemented on our campus. With the facts provided to me from the two articles in the previous edition of the Point News and with my own research, I am hoping to present an argument that will help be a catalyst for a further discussion on the implementation of the program, and hopefully some straight answers.
Before addressing the proposed "green"ness of the bike share program, I'd like to address the actual necessity of bikes on our campus. The longest walk you might have to take on St. Mary's campus would be from Warring Commons to Calvert. The distance from Warring Commons all the way to the beach at the Point is less than one mile. The walk from south campus to north campus (housing to an academic building across route 5) is around 15 to 20 minutes. Not to make a comment on anyone who already has their own bicycle to ride to class, the 20 minute walk across campus is not a huge loss in a day's time, or something that cannot be scheduled around so that you may only make the walk twice a day. Bicycles on this campus are a matter of convenience, not necessity, especially when those who are in support of the bike share program are comparing St. Mary's campus to European cities and the University of California at Santa Barbara. One major flaw in the nature of this comparison is the student population of UC at Santa Barbara is 20,000 students. It is unreasonable to compare the impact of their bike program when our campus has 18,000 less people. I would imagine that their walking paths might be very crowded without bike paths, and that their campus is much larger to support this huge number of people, with further distances between residences and classes. In the second article, there is an attempt to compare the population of Rennes, France to St. Mary's College, with the seemingly reasonable comparison of 2,500 population of Rennes, and 2,000 students at St. Mary's College. However, Rennes is 13 square miles, while St. Mary's is less than one mile across. Even though I was unable to find a map of Rennes to figure the greatest distance, this still proves to be another unreasonable comparison in regards to the necessity of bikes on this campus.
One of the issues of concern about the implementation of this program is the how it will help our green campaign on campus, namely by reducing the number of students using their cars to get around campus. If we are trying to discourage students from driving to class or the Campus Center, there is a simpler way for doing this - ticketing cars that are parked in lots that a car does not have a parking permit for. A $20 parking ticket and/or threat of towing is a great discouragement to using a car to get around campus. I myself have received a ticket for parking in a non-allotted lot, and therefore I do not park there anymore. I knew someone in a previous year who drove to class almost every day, and never got a ticket. Simply ticketing that car would have made a great impact on that student's choice to drive to class. My point is that providing bikes will not necessarily end the usage of cars as transportation across campus, and would more likely make kids who usually walk (zero carbon emissions!) ride a bike as a matter of convenience.
If this is to be a truly green program, I would hope that is being taken into account the carbon footprint of the implementation of the program, and if the green benefits of the program will outweigh the environmental impact. Consider the carbon emissions from sending students to the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the even more numerous students and administrators sent to Europe for a week; also the emissions from the bikes being made, and shipped to our school; the labor and construction required to make new bike paths; and what type of energy will be used to power the electronic card swiping system that will be keeping track of who is borrowing bikes? From my preliminary evaluation, my hypothesis that this program for St. Mary's College is definitely not as environmentally sound as it is proposed to be.
These bike sharing programs in cities and on large university campuses do make an impact that is positive for the environment and the future of green living. However, those impacts do not translate to the small scale of St. Mary's College. I am not saying that there is no reason for students to want to ride a bike to class - it's getting colder and you want to get to class faster, it saves a few minutes in a day, gets your heart rate up, etc. However, it is not a necessity. I admit that I myself am unable to live a totally green lifestyle, and often park in the Campus Center lot when I come back from work off campus and am trying to make my 6o'clock in Kent Hall on time (and would not like to be ticketed). I think there could be a more successful and less environmentally impacting campaign to convince students to stop driving across campus as often as it currently occurs. Also, we cannot rule out that some bikes will not be trashed or that the system will be totally respected. And of course - more construction for bike paths? Will any St.Mary's students in the next 10 years experience a year without major construction?
My argument is sound, and since this is a program that affects the entire campus, it should have been proposed to the entire campus for approval (although maybe that did happen and I personally missed it - I was abroad Spring 2007). I believe my argument would have had a greater impact in those preliminary stages, where as now it seems too late after a significant amount of money has already been invested and students and faculty sent abroad. I hope that the Maggie O'Brien will respond to my argument and questions, and that myself and other students in opposition and support will be able to make an impact on whether or not this program will be implemented.