NMSU Sustainability Council Meeting

Transcription

1 NMSU Sustainability Council Meeting Meeting attendees: Rani Alexander, David Boje, Zachary Brechiesen, Chris Brown, Jean Conway, Jared Dial, Katrina Doolittle, Dave DuBois, Jen England, Mike Franco, Ruby Galindo, Merideth Hildreth, Andy Hume, Emily Kelley, Chelsae McCoy, Katrina Miner, Suzanne Montes, joni newcomer, Kyle Pierson, Luis Rios, Bryce Richards, David Rutledge, Steve Self, David Shearer Meeting Minutes by Jared Dial I. Welcome: Meeting in session at 8:42 AM II. Introduction: Council Chair David Boje a. Balancing transportation at NMSU III. Presentation on Bicycle Friendly University: Jean Conway, Associate Director, Teaching Academy <attached> a. They have improved the intersection at Jordan and University b. Under the freeway on Traviz is going to be improved in the future c. Cholla Street will not be impacted by future development (Hume) d. defensive driving section on motorcycles and bicycles (Alexander) e. There is a Google doc for NMSU BFU to help record ideas (Conway) f. On November 5 the city is updating the bicycle laws (Hume) g. Increase bicycle registration; leadership is receptive but lack of labor (Brown) h. The city has preliminary bicycle plan (Andy Hume) i. Recreation Dept. person is now in charge of bicycle sports receptive to this program (Shearer) j. New High School: potential partnerships for bicycle education (Alexander) k. Sonoma Ranch Road will have bike lanes (Hume) l. Although NMSU is lacking points for BFU, we should still go for certification don t wait until we have 5 (we are at 3) (Hume) m. Memorial from the Faculty Senate; not just general but have specific things we should request to focus on (Alexander moves, Shearer seconds) n. Next application cycle is February; would we have response by summer? (Shearer) o. Must reapply every four years; you can lose certification (Conway) IV. Panel on BFU: (Conway, Franco, Hume, McCoy, Shearer) a. Andy Hume, Senior Planner, City of Las Cruces (no longer MPO Bicycle Coordinator) i. Planning: MPO plans for all transportation within designated region in Las Cruces area; 140 miles of bicycle facilities in MPO area; NMSU is included in this region; NMSU representation on advisory committees (Greg Walke, Dave Shearer); you don t need bicycle lanes everywhere (i.e. residential where speed limit is low); complete street means to maintain and design streets for all users; Contact Sensational Design (CSD) = the overall umbrella of how to design; arterial: local street; tier 1 route: bicycle arterials; framework for connections we need to have (i.e. to move across the city); tier 2 route: connectors which fill out areas within tier 1 arterials provide

2 alternative routes (plan for all types of users); tier 3 route: minor roads which take you to key specific areas ii. Implementation: Bicycle Friendly Community Task Force, made up of 6/12 departments and community members; broken into 3 subcommittees: 1) enforcement, which feeds into education after being done 2) engineering 3) education and encouragement iii. Evaluation: this component should be built in all subcommittees iv. Three suggestions: 1) Tackling the application is a big task; work backwards from the due date 2) Use an integrative approach to gathering information 3) Be judiciously bold: what is the one project that will shift the local culture, while still being practical (phase the project over time) b. Mike Franco, Director of Services, ASNMSU; Chelsea McCoy, Sustainability and Community Leadership?, ASNSU i. U-pass (Roadrunner transit) and Aggie Transit have bicycle racks (20% of riders of Roadrunner are students) ii. Outreach for BFU: FEED, student-hotline V. Discussion: a. Master Plan for NMSU includes the closing of Stewart Street to traffic; not much bicycle related information in the Master Plan (Brown) b. Should we move all student parking to the parking lot east of the Pan American Center? (Rutledge) c. Other universities have bike lockers (Boje) d. Study on bicycle larceny ( ); did not consider lighting only location (Montes) e. Thefts in comparison to location of racks; are they near entry to buildings? (Hume) f. What is the next step? (Boje) i. Engage Chief Lopez with police department (Kelley) ii. Get buy-in from campus; get the students engaged (Rutledge) iii. Bicycle registration at CSD (Montes) iv. Lead by example (Hume) v. How will skateboarders fit in? (Alexander) vi. Focus on challenges (Dial) vii. A.S.K. for Senate Memorial (Alexander) viii. Get key players reinvigorated: Bicycle Task Force Committee (Brown) VI. ER updates: David Boje a. Course inventory is still in progress VII. Closing: Meeting closes at 9:45 AM

3 New Mexico State University Becoming a Bicycle Friendly University

4 NMSU : Why? Commuting Benefits for Individuals Improves health Saves money Convenient parking

5 NMSU : Why? Institutional Benefits Simple, sustainable way to reduce campus congestion and lessen parking problems Lessen our impact on the environment Support the health and well being of Aggie students, faculty and staff

6 NMSU : Who Building a Coalition Students ASNMSU Student organizations concerned with sustainability Faculty Senate Concerned NMSU employees Administrators

7 NMSU : Who Building a Coalition Staff Employee Council Employee Health & Safety Facilities & Services/Architect s Office Health and Wellness Housing & Residential Life Parking Police President & Provost Recreational Sports

8 YES NO Quick Scorecard Engineering Does your campus have a comprehensive, connected and wellmaintained bicycling network? Is bike parking readily available throughout the campus? Is the college or university easily accessible by bike?

9 YES NO Quick Scorecard Education Does the college or university offer bicycling education classes for students and staff? Are there classes for campus motorists on how to share the road with cyclists?

10 YES NO Quick Scorecard Encouragement Does your college or university have an up-to-date bicycle map? Are there incentives offered for students and staff that commute by bike? Is there an active bicycle advocacy group at the college or university? Is there an on-campus bike center for rentals and repairs?

11 YES NO Quick Scorecard Enforcement Do campus safety/law enforcement officers receive training on the rights and responsibilities of all road users? Does your campus have law enforcement or other public safety officers on bikes? Is there a program on campus to prevent bike theft?

12 YES NO Quick Scorecard Evaluation Is there an institutional plan or program to reduce bicyclist crashes? Does your college or university have a current comprehensive bicycle plan? Does your college or university have a bicycle program manager? rica/universityscorecard/

13 YES NO Quick Scorecard Score 0 4: You ve got work to do Score 5+: Ready to apply for BFU status NMSU s current score: 1.5

14 Tentative organizational plan Establish a committee for each of the 5 Es of the BFU application Charge the committees Establish a time line working backward from the date the application is due (most likely the fall of 2013) Establish a centralized place to record work in progress to avoid duplication of effort

15 Committee duties Review the requirements for their criteria Identify what's already being done or is in place Set action items: identify what needs to improve and what else needs to/can be done Set timelines and determine how action items can be accomplished

16 Committee duties Execute action items Complete their portion of the application document Set future agenda to maintain/increase integration of bicycling and alternative transportation into the University culture

17 Resources LAB BFU Resources yamerica/bicyclefriendlyuniversity/help.php NMSU BFU Progress Google Doc uvuvhx5rgtffqatu2yjtobjycnk/edit