The announcement of the SUNY Oswego Bike-Share Program, reported in this week’s edition, is a positive step in sustainability for the campus.
The program, though still in its infant stages, has the potential to provide students a cheap, quick and healthy way to get around campus. Beyond that, it has great potential to take more cars, and their carbon emissions, off Oswego’s roads.
As a state school, the fact that this will allow more students access to bicycles, who otherwise might not be able to afford them, should not be overlooked either.
The Oswegonian hopes that the program will continue to grow to allow more students access to bikes.
The program is a positive sign that the university is willing to commit time and resources toward creating a sustainable campus. The larger campus projects, such as Shineman’s sustainability efforts, get the majority of the attention, but smaller projects such as the bike-share program have an important role as well.
The program can hopefully serve as an indicator of more to come. First in the growth of the original program, and then in programs beyond it. The Zipcar system, for one, is currently underused by students and could use either expansion or review.
Bicycles also are not always easy to use as a tool to get around campus, as several areas lack bicycle lanes. The same could be said about the city as well. As the program progresses, this and other issues will have to be addressed. Specifically roads. Due to the particularly harsh winter, conditions of the roads on and off campus have been poor.
If a program such as bicycle-share takes off with students, which this newspaper anticipates, it should serve as an impetus for the school to examine even more ways to help students find cheap, efficient forms of transportation.
