Bicycle Friendly University

Ohio State University, Columbus| Bronze Level

University Highlights: Ohio State University (OSU) is currently in the middle of a cultural transformation from a drive-alone philosophy to a culture of reducing the pervasiveness of the automobile on campus by promoting alternative modes of transportation, including cycling. Over the last several years, OSU has made significant investments in bicycle infrastructure, amenities, and access. In fact, OSU has invested more than $2 million over the last three years connecting campus to a larger city system of bicycle infrastructure, renovating a critical multi-use trail bisecting campus, constructing bike lanes and installing shared lane markings, and providing additional bicycle parking options. These investments have been tremendously successful at not only meeting the demand of today but actually helping to build the foundation on which future projects can be planned. OSU has also dedicated resources to developing a University Share the Road Campaign, and to working with student organizations and local bike advocacy organizations to help cultivate a vibrant, active, and vocal bike community. Transportation & Parking partnered with the ODOT, BikeOSU, and Yay Bikes to create a bike education and safety campaign targeting not just the campus, but the entire University District. The City of Columbus received a bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community recognition in 2009, and OSU has continued to work with them to develop a network of bike routes that links OSU to all the City has to offer.

Most Compelling Recent Bike Related Accomplishment:
OSU launched the first location of bike lockers on campus. The development of electronic RFID locking devices for these stainless steel bike lockers was born from the collaboration of several OSU departments, resulting in OSU being one of the few Universities or Colleges to successfully deploy RFID technology in a bike locker application, completely doing away with traditional lock and key technology. OSU’s total investment in bike lockers is approximately $150,000.

Most Compelling Fact: Transportation-related data is routinely collected through several sources, including, semi-annual bicycle and pedestrian counts, project-specific transportation counts and impact analyses, and through the annual Campus Transportation Survey. Through this multi-pronged approach of targeted data collection and analysis, transportation data is tabulated on commuters of all modes of transportation across the University, providing one of the best tools the University has in determining both the effectiveness of existing bicycle infrastructure and accommodations and the viability of future investments.