The UNM Parking and Transportation Services is launching a program to make alternative transportation more accessible.
Danielle Gilliam, program coordinator for the Transportation Demand Management Programs, said UNM is considering implementing bicycle boulevards on campus, likely dropping the speed limit to 18 mph.
“Parking and Transportation are advocates for bicycles on campus. In our brainstorming … we’ve been working on this for a while, and would like some feedback on it,” Gilliam said. “The idea of making a part of Redondo a bicycle boulevard would entail traffic calming and putting up branded signage to notate that this is a shared road space.”
Michael Pollikov, University planner and head of the bicycle program, said adding bike lanes to Buena Vista Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue east of I-25, and installing mid-block pedestrian and cyclist activated crossings at Buena Vista Avenue, Central Avenue, Lomas Boulevard and Vassar Drive are among the improvements.
Pollikov said these efforts are geared toward reducing student and faculty members’ dependence on cars.
To date, ABQ Ride’s free bus pass program has been the most successful program, and students have taken advantage of the system, Gilliam said. The transportation department recorded nearly 1 million rides during the 2009-2010 school year.
UNM also partners with ZipCar, a car-sharing program that allows people to rent cars by the hour. ZipCars memberships are available for $35 a year, or can be rented daily for $8 per hour. That includes gas and insurance. There are three cars available on campus, one by Coronado Hall, one at A Lot and one behind Scholes Hall.
