Colleges and High Schools Act to Keep Cars Off Campus

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With fall approaching, colleges across the US are encouraging students to come to campus without their cars. In Atlanta, Emory University is selling $250,000 worth of bikes, at a discount, to students and faculty. CNN reports that bike-share programs have started or will soon launch at Duke, the University of Washington, and at least two public universities in Illinois.

Meanwhile, at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, freshmen who pledge to come to school without a car will receive a free $300 mountain bike, along with a helmet and lock.

The college’s president, David Joyce, says the
project was meant to avoid building a parking garage, but its side
effects are beneficial: less pollution, more exercise and savings on
gas.

The timing was right, Joyce says: "We were either extremely brilliant or extremely lucky."

High schoolers are getting in on the act as well, with bike and pedestrian projects underway at campuses from East Hanover, NJ to Marin County, CA. Are you listening, Bridgewater-Raritan administrators?

Photo of Emory employees by John Bazemore/AP

  • They should implement this on LA college campuses (that are transit friendly, lots campuses in LA are transit unfriendly, my old school Mt St Mary’s in Brentwood if I wanted to leave the campus for non school related items you had to go up and down this winding dangerous hill with blind spots, driving a car up it was dangerous, riding a bike up it was dangerous, walking on it was dangerous.)

    Heck they should implement this on high school campuses. Almost all high schools in LA have parking lots for students, why? I remember driving for five minutes to get to school, when I could have easily biked or bussed it, but it’s in our culture. We need to start people off young. This LA thing where you turn 16 and get a car needs to end.

    Also the public transit for high schoolers who do take it, is awful. The kids are packed on there like sardines. It’s crowded and stinky and doesn’t run frequently enough. Then we get surprised that people in LA will work solely to pay for their car.