Many college students opt for bicycles as their primary mode of transportation, and it is easy to see why. Biking on campus is a much more efficient way to get around a large campus than driving and a faster way to get around a small campus than walking. Biking is healthier for both you and the planet, and it is a lot less expensive than driving a car, which may be the most important factor when funds are tight as a student.
While most campuses offer you the opportunity to get around on your bicycle, some are more bike-friendly than others. If the ability to ride your electric beach cruiser around your college campus is a deciding factor in where you choose to go to school, consider the following bike-friendly college campuses.
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College is in Brunswick, Maine, a small coastal town in picturesque New England. If you bring your own bicycle with you to Bowdoin, you will find the flat campus ideal for easy cycling. However, it is not only the campus that is bike-friendly but the overall culture. Even if you don’t have a bicycle of your own, you can take advantage of the campus’ Yellow Bike Club that provides bike rental and training, as well as ongoing maintenance by peer mechanics. If you haven’t been part of bike culture yet but would like to get involved, Bowdoin College may be the perfect place to start.
Champlain College
Champlain is another New England school that encourages bicycling on campus. Students who participate in the Chittenden Area Transportation Management Association can receive gift cards and other rewards when they choose to ride a bike or walk instead of driving. Champlain College also offers two indoor bike storage rooms and helmets to purchase at a reduced cost as part of its campus safety program.
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, where Colorado State University is located, has gained nationwide fame for its love of bicycles. The enthusiasm extends to the CSU campus, where there are over 23,000 bikes registered. The Campus Bike Advisory Committee uses planning, awareness, and education to promote a bicycle experience at CSU that is safe and enjoyable.
Stanford University
Stanford University was founded in California in 1885, and ever since that time, bicycles have been a popular mode of transportation on campus, as the university’s website is proud to inform anyone who visits. At 13,000, there are fewer bicycles registered on Stanford’s campus than at CSU, but the university offers a variety of resources and programs to make bicycling the campus easy for students:
- Folding bicycles for sale or lease
- Free bike safety classes
- Repair stands
- Route maps
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
The U of M offers lockers for rent where you can store your bike, as well as 9,000 bicycle racks where you can park your bike for free. Like Champlain College, the U of M also offers an incentive program to encourage students to ride their bikes around campus. It is called “The Zap,” a computerized system that recognizes and logs your biking data automatically. If you choose to participate in The Zap, you can win prizes for biking without having to track your own data.
If you’re planning to head for one of these campuses and need a way to get around, bikes for college students are available for purchase from online retailers.
