BU promotes student bike safety

Boston University officials and groups are prioritizing student bicycle safety this year in collaboration with local advocates.

BU Bikes, a student-run bike advocacy group, is working with the BU Bike Safety Committee, as well as city organization Boston Bikes, and other bike activist groups in an effort to ensure students receive an adequate education about safe riding in Boston.

The organizations intend to use city resources to provide workshops, clinics, and other events that promote not only safe, but informed biking.

‘Riding a bike in a city such as Boston isn’t the same as knowing how to ride a bike,’ BU Bikes President Greg Hum said. ‘Our goal is to not only see an increase in the number of cyclists at BU, but an increase in the number of safe cyclists at BU.’

Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, a member of the BU Bike Safety Committee, said BU always strives to put the safety of its students first.

‘We are taking an educational approach towards biking,’ Elmore said. ‘We want to make sure students understand that they share the roadways, sidewalks and campus with pedestrians and drivers.’

Hum, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said BU Bikes plans to offer bike education clinics and events this year, where students can bring their bikes and learn how to make adjustments and repairs.

Nicole Freedman, Mayor Thomas Menino’s newly appointed bike czar and head of Boston Bikes, urged BU bikers to attend Bike Safety Awareness Day, hosted by the BU administration and Boston Bikes, Sept. 10, where representatives from several local bike shops and the BU Police Department will perform bike tune-ups and register cyclists with the city.

BU Bikes founder Galen Mook, a former Daily Free Press columnist, said learning about biking in Boston is important for incoming freshmen.

‘New bikers coming from suburbs to Boston need to understand the dangers of riding in an urban setting and smarten up about how they ride,’ Mook, who is also a member of the BU Bike Safety Committee, said.

BU has been quick to respond to student complaints about the need for more places to park bikes around campus, Mook said. Since the end of last year, over 100 new bike racks have been set up around campus.

College of Communication junior Dimitri Kouri, who rides his bike every day, said he thinks the new bike racks on campus are ‘a great thing.’

‘The more racks, the more accessible biking is for students at BU,’ he said.

BU Bike Safety Committee member Sonya Savchenko said BU should make the extension of campus bike lanes a priority.

She said her friend, who bikes in New York City frequently and has never had any problems, was hit by a car on Commonwealth Avenue at Packard’s Corner – a location without any bike lanes.

‘The car didn’t stop. It was a hit and run.’ Savchenko said. ‘The attitude towards bikers in Boston is obvious.’

Freedman, a former Olympic cyclist, said she tested the danger of the BU Bridge by biking there herself. She said the city plans to add more bike lanes this year, but made no substantial promises for lanes on the BU Bridge or at Packard’s Corner.

But despite potential danger to Boston cyclists, Kouri said he won’t give it up.

‘[Getting a bike] changed the way I look at BU’s campus and Boston as a whole,’ he said. ‘It made me realize how easy and fun it is to get around the entire city on a bike.’