The Transportation Alternatives Group came to the City College Student Senate Friday asking for permission to build a new Bike Station for students on East Campus.
The parking situation at City College has been a major issue for staff and students and TAG has been working for months trying to find new solutions to the problem.
The idea was presented to the Student Senate Friday morning by Perrin Pellegrin, a consultant hired by City College, along with Joe Sullivan, vice president of business services.
“It’s a culture shift we are trying to push through,” Sullivan said. “and we have a lot of support to get it through.”
The kiosk is controlled by the Student Senate and would have to be removed in order to make room for the new bike center.
The new station would be staffed by a local bike sale and repair shop Bici Centro. The center would be mainly selling equipment such as locks and tire tubes but would also have a major focus on increasing education and awareness about bike safety.
Bike theft is one of the biggest factors holding back many from using bikes as an alternative on campus.
The group would like to add multiple bike storage facilities around campus along with a bike station where the current motorcycle parking is located. These would be secure locations for students to store their bikes with campus security and security cameras keeping a watchful eye on student property.
City College has had to find new ways to deal with the issue of parking on campus with the California Coastal Commission not allowing new spaces or structures to be built.
TAG is looking into a pilot program for staff set to start in January of next year in addition to the new bike station and storage areas. The program is going to give monetary incentives to staff members to encourage them to take alternative means of transportation to school and is considering charging staff for parking for the first time.
One of the main motivators of the program according to Pellegrin is “to get staff and faculty out of a single occupied vehicle and use alternative transportation.”
While the details have not been worked out yet, City College is trying just about anything possible to alleviate the serious parking problems on campus.
Another aspect of the plan by TAG is to add “emergency rides” for staff. The college is looking into buying two vehicles that would be used to use in the case of serious needs such as doctor appointments and family emergencies. While the idea would make a lot of sense for students, these would currently only be available for district employees on a need-to-use basis.
The Student Senate plans to talk more about the issue at its next scheduled meeting at 9 a.m. Oct. 10, in Campus Center Room 223.
