We welcome you to submit your own comment or question. Questions and comments are published anonymously.
Speak up Be heard: Sustainability
Biking to work at West Valley
Submitted:
Last updated:
Status: Resolved
Comment or issue submitted:
For most of it's history, West has been largely a commuter campus. It's becoming much more residential and growing like crazy. However, we don't have the bike infrastructure that Tempe has. I would gladly bike to work, coming in from just 1.5 miles to the west. However, 2 things interfere. First, Wood Drive coming in from the southwest part of campus lacks bike lanes. It has narrow shoulders, often gravelly, and the desert vegetation obscures line of sight for drivers, making this a hazardous route. Expanding to include bike lanes and trimming the brush would fix this. Second, there are no bike cages. (Bike valets would be overkill at West). There's no way I'm going to lock my expensive bike up to a regular outdoor rack and risk theft and exposure to elements. Where I work we are prohibited from bringing bikes into the building. A bike cage at the fitness center would fix this. So--a growing student population will eventually demand a more bike friendly environment. Creating safe passage and security for bikes would proactively address this for both students and staff, resulting in healthier people and less cars on campus.
Resolution:
From Parking & Transit:
"There is very little bike demand on the West Valley campus and right now ASU overall is seeing a significant decline of bikes being used on all campuses.
Personally owned electric scooters are the new preferred mode of transportation which ASU is working a different types of solutions as we speak."
From Staff Council Advocacy, Inclusion and Community Committee:
Dear Sun Devil,
My name is Beno Thomas and I'm the current Chair for ASU Staff Council's Advocacy Inclusion and Community Committee. I'm replying to confirm receipt of your Speak Up Be Heard submission, and to announce we're in the process of raising awareness about this issue.
In addition to the Speak Up Be Heard Program, my Committee also supports the Staff Council Sustainability Program, who's been made aware of this issue as well. My plan is to utilize their expertise and impact to help implement your suggested improvements.
Next steps include looping in specific support from the West Valley campus, including the Sun Devil Fitness Center and potentially USG before presenting solutions to leadership.
I don't want to set any false expectations, but this feels like an excellent example of actionable feedback that precisely aligns with ASU's stated safety/sustainability goals I have high hopes these suggestions will be well received. Thank you for using the Speak Up Be Heard platform and please be on the lookout for incoming improvements.