Bicycle Friendly University

Northern Arizona University | Silver Level

Highlights: Northern Arizona University (NAU) invested in a campaign to educate bicyclists and vehicle drivers on traffic laws to decrease violations and improve campus bicycle safety. The NAU Police Department and Parking Services partnered to create a bike safety brochure for the campaign. This brochure is given to everyone who registers a bike on campus and is handed out during many bike advocacy events. Both departments have webpages with similar information regarding sharing the road with bicyclists and bike safety tips. Along with the NAU Police Department's ongoing efforts to educate the incoming students on road laws and safety, this campaign targeted the motorists and bicyclists using the locations of frequent violations on campus. The officers stationed in these areas stopped the bicyclists and vehicle drivers who were violating the laws and exhibiting unsafe behavior. Instead of issuing a citation, the officers educated the motorists and bicyclists on the proper way to move through the intersection, informed them of the laws, and distributed the bike safety brochure. Following the program the officers resumed citing those who continued to violate the laws of the road. The NAU Police Department was able to reach a large portion of the campus community with this educational campaign.

Most Significant Recent Accomplishment: In 2007 the University invested in the Yellow Bike Program to provide the community with free bicycle transportation. The program was established to help reduce transportation emissions by providing a convenient and healthy substitute to cars. Students from a 2007 climate mitigation class researched ways to lower the university's greenhouse gas emissions and came up with this bike share program. The University took an interest and donated 45 abandoned bikes from around campus to start the program. These yellow painted bicycles were unlocked and free for on-campus use. Many were lost or vandalized because of no accountability. From these meager beginnings, the program has developed increasingly better infrastructure over the last four years. The fleet now includes over 160 coaster bikes all painted yellow and marked with program identification stickers and bike numbers. Now the campus community uses their University identification card to check out a yellow bike from three locations where 90 of the bikes are in circulation. All bikes are locked while not in use. Individuals fill out a liability waiver, present their ID, and receive a bike, lock, key, and helmet to use for seven days, on or off campus. This is an incredibly popular program with $41,056 spent through Spring 2011 on bikes, locks, helmets, maintenance and student staffing for checkouts.

Most Compelling Fact: The University invested in 32 individual, lockable bike storage lockers in 2012. They are located in groups across campus. They can be leased by anyone in the campus community on a semester or annual basis and can hold one bike and have storage hooks for accessories and gear. The total investment was $31,855 and all but 8 units were leased the first day available to the public.