Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech Police Department and Transportation and Campus Services are enforcing new policies regulating bicycles, skateboards and motorized scooters.

Previously allowed only on roadways, cyclists are now also allowed on sidewalks, parking lots and grass.

Skateboards are now allowed on sidewalks where they were previously banned. They are not allowed on roads, and all four wheels must remain on the ground at all times.

Mopeds and motorized scooters must operate on roadways only, and they must use designated parking as opposed to bike racks.

The old policy was incomplete because it did not address many of the issues regarding cycling, except to state that cyclists were not allowed on sidewalks. It was difficult to enforce and often disregarded.

With a growing number of cyclists on campus, the change was enacted in order to promote alternative transportation and make biking on campus easier and safer for both cyclists and pedestrians.

"We wanted to encourage cycling on campus, but a lot the buildings on campus are 'landlocked' and only accessible through sidewalks, so people rode on the sidewalks anyway," said Deborah Freed, alternative transportation manager. "We're trying to create more of a feeling of responsibility on each individual cyclist."

Geoffrey Allen, Tech Police officer, agrees that responsibility is the key to a safe cycling environment, and he said many students revert to youthful methods of riding their bikes.

"I think a lot of people get a bike before they get their license, but eventually they'll start driving," Allen said. "People go back to the bike to get around campus, and there's that tendency to ride like they were 15 again. The campus welcomes the bicycle, but it is important that riders understand how to operate safely on both the road and the sidewalk."

Allen has created a new Web page outlining the policy so that people can be aware of the changes. The page, which can be found on the Tech Police Web site, lists the rules for bikes as well as information about how to register your bike on campus.

The new policy will likely increase the already growing number of cyclists on campus, but bike racks are already full in most parts of campus.

"Every year it's basically the scrape and scratch method when it comes to bike racks," Freed said. I love that there are more cyclists, but I wish we had more money to put out more racks. We just don't have the funding."

Though Parking Services plans to do its first bike count this fall, there is currently no information available for the number of cyclists on campus.