WASHINGTON — If you’re a college student who likes to bike, you may think a BFU is a BFD.
Students worried about the future job market and looming student loan payments may want to take a look at the League of American Bicyclists’ “Bike Friendly Universities” when deciding on the college of their choice.
Amelia Neptune, the manager of the league’s Bicycle Friendly University Program, says, “Students recognize that owning a car is really expensive, between gas and parking and the car itself.”
The number of colleges and universities joining the ranks of BFUs is growing: 127 institutions of higher learning in 42 states have gotten that designation. New on the list in the D.C. area is Maryland’s Towson University, which enters at the Bronze level. The University of Maryland College Park has been a BFU since 2011 and is the only one in the region with Gold-level status.
Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond is in the Silver category. Other Bronze BFUs include Georgetown University, George Mason University and James Madison University.
Neptune says becoming a BFU isn’t a matter of slapping up a few bike racks and calling yourself bike-friendly. She ticks off a list of things that would show commitment to making biking on campus work.
“Covered bike parking, especially where students live on campus and are storing their bikes overnight. Good facilities like showers and lockers for commuters, and also having staff, a dedicated budget and plans to improve.”
Neptune says benefits to the schools include the space saved on bike parking compared with larger lots for cars. And the issue of safety enters the picture: Neptune says encouraging bike ridership versus car driving can increase safety by reducing the likelihood of vehicular collisions.
Click here for a complete list of 2015 BFU awardees, and here for the full list of designated BFUs.
