Commuters at the Central Campus Transit Center at the University of Michigan.
Spring recently sprung in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and many bikes sprung up around town.
The flat landscape, accessible bike lanes, and convenient bike racks make it an ideal biking town.
I just graduated after four years at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and in all that time, I have seen new bike lanes on major roads and more bike racks conveniently located downtown and near campus. I have to admit that I never rode, rented, or bought a bike in those four years. But I have plenty of friends, and even professors, who bike to and from class in the warmer months. It got me wondering: with all the buzz about bikeshare systems throughout the country and world, and Ann Arbor’s recent decision to start a bikeshare program, could a bikeshare entice new student riders?
A squirrel enjoys a bicycle on campus.
This year, the university’s rec center created a bike-rental system for students. I reached out to them numerous times to try and see if it was a success, but never received a response. I do not personally know anyone who participated in the program, and fellow students said they did not even know the program existed.
However, I did find about a dozen non-bike owning students with and without cars who told me they are intrigued by the bikeshare if it conveniently helps them reach their classes, recreation centers, eating areas, and grocery stores. Respondents with cars suggested they would not bring their cars to school if they could get to these resources with the bikeshare program.
In Ann Arbor, the town and university are dependent upon one another economically, socially, and politically, making the partnership between the two for this bikeshare necessary and hopefully inevitable.
I wholeheartedly believe Ann Arbor could easily reduce car traffic by targeting student drivers like myself. Strategically implementing the bikeshare locations could reduce car traffic in the area by helping to create a built environment that is not car dependent. Connecting the suburban dwellers with downtown could reduce daily traffic, especially on weekends, but reducing car density by reducing the number of student drivers is what the bikeshare’s mission could be and should be.
I won’t be there to see what happens when the city and university install the bikeshare. I only hope students’ needs are addressed and met. So future students can endure journeys downtown and the not-so-pretty trip to the nearest grocery store – one mile from campus – with an enjoyable ride on bikeshare.
Photos by Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and cseeman.