The university received a renewed bronze-level award in the annual Bicycle Friendly University awards. 

The League of American Bicyclists, an organization founded in 1880 that encourages the activity of riding bikes, presented the award. 

“Their goal is to make cycling safer and easier for people across the country,” said Chris Lukas, the university’s assistant director of outdoor adventure. “One of the ways they do that is they have these different designations based on user groups.”

The university was first awarded with a BFU award in 2016 after being recognized as an honorable mention. Since 2016, Kent State is the only university in Northeast Ohio to be recognized as a bicycle-friendly university.

“Since I’ve been here [5 years] we’ve gone from honorable mention to a bronze,” Lukas said. “Our goal for the next time around is to achieve the silver award.” 

There is an application process for institutions that wish to participate in the BFU awards. The organization then reviews numerous factors and takes them into consideration when deciding which institutions earn which award status, Lukas said. 

“We went through that [process] a couple months ago,” he said. “It asks a lot of different questions about things like roadways, how snow is cleared, lighting and education.” 

The bronze-level award means the university is recognized for their work in making the campus safer for cyclists, Lukas said. 

“I think it shows that there’s a lot of hard work being done across campus to make sure that it is safe for bikers,” he said. 

The university implemented several changes over the years to secure this distinction. 

“One of the biggest ones is the website we created last time around,” Lukas said. “We realized that there was no central hub of any kind of biking information on campus.” 

The website includes videos for beginning bicyclists, safety information, bicycle registration and maps showing students where they can bike on campus.

Additionally, an open-forum feedback tool was created to give bicyclists the opportunity to share their comments and concerns about biking on campus.

“If there is an issue with a pothole on the road someone can get on the website and say, ‘Hey, I was biking on this street, and there’s a huge pothole that’s dangerous, can someone address that,’” Lukas said. 

To achieve the silver award, the university is in the process of planning new safety features. 

“Really it is a collaborative effort. I’m a part of a bicycle advisory committee on campus,” Lukas said. “We talk about different bike-related issues around campus.” 

However, it takes a lot of resources and people to implement these new changes, he said. 

“Through that committee, we also partner with the university architect or campus safety, parking services. There’s lots of stakeholders,” Lukas said. “We try to involve as many people as we can because a lot of the initiatives can’t be done by just one or two people.” 

There are a few ideas that the university is working on.

“Working with HR so when staff get hired on campus they have some kind of bike safety training or share the road training,” Lukas said. “When they are re-doing streets on campus, making sure there’s bike lanes, different things like that.” 

Julia Rouge, a junior nursing major, said she believes the university is safe for bicyclists like herself. 

“Most places, the sidewalks are large enough to where people and bikes can fit,” she said.

A majority of the problems with biking on campus come from pedestrian sidewalk etiquette, Rouge said.

“A lot of people have headphones in, so if I’m like ‘on your left!’ or ‘on your right!’ they can’t hear me,” Rouge said. “Some people just walk in the middle of the sidewalk, and I’m like ‘okay, time to go on the grass.’”

Additionally, Rouge said she sometimes has problems with bicyclists when she is walking on campus. 

“If I’m walking, some people won’t say anything, or just go really close to me and they scare me,” Rouge said. 

The main thing that Lukas wanted to remind students about biking is to be aware. 

“If you’re on a bike, focus on riding safely and what is on the ground in front of you,” Lukas said. “Be really aware of your surroundings and know that you are sharing that space.”

Lukas’ reminder of bicycle safety continues as measures are taken to make the streets and sidewalks of the university safe for all who share these spaces, he said. 

“It’s just awesome that there are people around this university that are committed to helping make sure that we are friendly for bikers,” Lukas said. “Because we have a lot of people that like to ride bikes, it is important that we help and make sure that people know how to do that safely and educate people.” 

Olivia Montgomery is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].