Traffic Safety Recommendations for James Madison University

James Madison University, like many other universities, stresses the importance of alternative means of transportation. In order to reduce the number of students who choose individual means of transportation, such as driving alone in a car, many universities offer services and programs to increase the number of students who use alternative means of transportation.

MU lists off five alternative means of transportation, most of which are bus services. A full list of transportation alternatives offered is illustrated below.

At first glance, this does not appear to be a wide variety of choices and many are ambiguously written out. With limited information and no cost associated with each option, it does not provide students with an impressive or persuasive list of alternatives. Especially because most students will not inquire further past the home page.

Other universities have similar pages like the Transportation page listed for JMU, however, others have significantly more information and a wider variety of options. For example, Stanford University offers a "Commute Club" that is far more welcoming and encouraging than the JMU page. It offers individuals the opportunity to "Find Your Sustainable Commute Options" giving it a more personal touch and seeming as though students need to find this alternative.

Additionally, compared to the five options listed for JMU alternative transportations, Stanford offers 12 programs. One program in particular that could be exponentially more useful on JMU's campus is the idea of a bicycle program. This program:

"Bicycle Program: assisting you in getting started as a bike commuter, commute planning, clothes and bike locker rentals/shower information, bicycle facilities development, safety education, and more."

Thus, providing students with more information and utilities that encourage bike riding. JMU's campus is only expanding, encouraging more students to participate in bike riding would be an excellent way to continue expanding but reducing our carbon footprint as a university. Stanford's program also offers great incentives for bike riders such as:

• Safety Classes

• Safety Pledges

• Bike Safety Stations

• Repair Stands

• Bicycle Helmet Promotion

• Outreach to Students

• Student Orientation

• Invention Challenges

• A Bike Safety Mascot

• Newsletters, Emails, and Video Testimonial

These are just the resources available for bike safety. Within each of the 12 alternative means of transportation, there are numerous resources just like the ones listed for bike safety. If JMU implemented a bike program similar to Stanford's, the number of students who ride bikes to and from campus could dramatically increase. The resources available to bikers are numerous, and infrastructure was not even mentioned here. If JMU took to creating more biker-friendly infrastructure in addition to these resources, I have no doubt the number of cyclists would increase dramatically.

Additionally, UC Davis's bicycle program is also quite extensive. Compared to Stanford's list of biking options and resources, UC Davis's program for bikes is more centralized on bike rules and regulations. This aspect is incredibly important to inform students of the "hidden" bike rules that could result in tickets or collisions. The bike safety rules offered by UC Davis are much more personal and geared toward educating students on specific safe biking habits, compared to JMU's Bike Safety section that is predominantly centered around ambiguous safety rules, some of which revolve around keeping your bike safe by registering it. The more people-centered approach taken by UC Davis also relates back to my previous posts, how the framing of our language affects the attitudes and behaviors felt towards others.

This ambiguous bike safety paragraph makes it difficult to read and unlikely that students will engage in this reading. However, the safety precautions illustrated by UC Davis are broken down into manageable sections and are written in a more approachable and personable manner.

JMU needs to revisit their site and recreate their bicycle safety section to have a higher chance of being read by students and written in a way that is addressed to students. Combining the number of options offered by Stanford, specifically including a bike program at JMU, and making bike safety more of a priority and written in a more effective manner, could dramatically increase the number of bikers at JMU and encourage safe behavior from cyclists, drivers, and pedestrians.