Ohio State’s transportation system has come under fire over the past few months. Several severe bike-related accidents have caused university officials to rethink transportation across campus. In addition to Ohio State’s recommendations to increase traffic enforcement and educational programs, we believe that a comprehensive biking map should be created for the campus area. The map would serve to highlight the least-congested routes across campus, which would limit pedestrian-biker conflicts and direct the flow of bike traffic.
Currently, university officials don’t plan to create a biking map, but through our partnership with the Share the Road campaign, our vision for this map can be realized. All highly rated cycling campuses have a biking map, and there’s no reason why Ohio State shouldn’t be among these universities. In addition to improving transportation safety, the proposed map would enhance the biking community at Ohio State. The map would show bikers there’s a place for them at Ohio State, even though pedestrians dominate the campus area. This would encourage more bike commuters, thus reducing vehicle emissions.
Enhancing the biking community is a key aspect of transforming Ohio State into the greenest university in the country, and implementing the proposed map would be a step in the right direction.