Justin Doyle ’08 aims to make the University of Mary Washington a better place for bicyclists. So the Virginia Commonwealth University master’s degree candidate is developing a bike plan for UMW for his culminating project in urban and regional planning program.
“I wanted to give back to UMW in a way that I feel passionate about,” he said. “Bicycling is a passion of mine. Since UMW has never developed a bicycle plan, it was a great opportunity.”
Some UMW students already use bicycles on a daily basis, but more might use them if a bike plan was in place, said Doyle.
He wants faculty, staff and students’ input on how to deal with the challenges of creating a bike program.
Doyle has developed an online survey and hopes to collect 400 to 500 responses. The survey, available until Feb. 17, is open to current UMW faculty, staff and students. He will hold a focus group session for faculty, staff and students on Tuesday, Feb. 14 from 3 to 5 p.m. in Woodard Campus Center.
He plans to use the results of the survey and focus groups to make recommendations to UMW Facilities Services specifically related to improving campus bicycle facilities.
“The university has no comprehensive look at bike use and what we could do to support that,” said Joni Wilson, director of landscape and grounds. “This is a real opportunity for us. As an alumnus, he has knowledge of the [UMW] campus after being here for four years. Partnering with him is a win-win.”
Although the project is still in the planning phase, Doyle hopes that elements from the plan will be implemented at the university in the future.
“My three main goals are to improve bicycle facilities on campus, improve bicyclists’ safety by reducing bicycle accidents and bicyclist and pedestrian conflicts and to make bicycling more appealing,” he said.
The bike plan survey is available through Feb. 17 at http://umwbikeplan.wordpress.com/.
For more information, contact Justin Doyle at justindoylerva@gmail.com
