Grand Valley Magazine - Fall 2013 - (Page 36)

S U STAI NA BI LI T Y Planning students learn how transportation choices affect lifestyle by Michele Coffill Cassie Miles is among the 4,000 needs of the students who live near 48th students who live in the housing Avenue and cross it daily to get complexes along 48th Avenue, the west to campus. border of Grand Valley between M-45 Houser's class studied what makes a and Pierce Street. community walkable and bikeable. A Miles was also enrolled in an class survey was presented during the introductory transportation class meeting. Of the nearly 300 respondents, that spent a semester studying a road 73 percent lived along 48th Avenue. construction project proposed for Most survey respondents (76 percent) that street. said they use bus transportation to get Her class, led by Patricia Houser, to campus. hosted a meeting in the Kirkhof Center Miles said she takes the bus to campus about the project. The April meeting from Country Place Apartments. She drew about 80 people, including said many common campus complaints stakeholders, Ottawa County officials about driving and parking in Allendale and transportation experts. would be alleviated by thinking more Houser, assistant professor of sustainably about transportation. geography and planning, said her "Most of campus is walkable and class learned real-life examples of bikeable," she said. "Grand Valley has how transportation choices can shape a record enrollment, but people still lifestyles and landscapes. Officials consider it to be a small campus. There's are discussing a plan to widen 48th no need to drive to class. But we learned Avenue, possibly from two to four that it takes baby steps to change lanes; construction is expected to people's minds." begin in 2016. Bus ridership on all Rapid routes "Everything we learned from our that serve Grand Valley continues to textbook seemed to come up in the climb. In the 2012 fall semester, the project," Houser said. "Current South Campus Express, which serves literature on transportation shows the complexes on 48th Avenue, saw that our country is in the midst of ridership of more than 300,000. a paradigm shift toward alternative modes of travel - to not be so car-dependent. Planners want to get people MEADOWS CROSSING out of their cars and shrink THE MEADOWS streets instead of widening them." Miles said she and others in her class were concerned that a wider avenue might discourage off-campus TO CAMPUS residents in that area from walking or biking to class. Several different road layouts were presented at the public meeting. CAMPUS "My favorite was the plan WEST 48TH with the median in the middle AVE and an indirect left-turn lane," Miles said. "It would make it easier for pedestrians to get across." This Google map shows Rapid buses turning into the Houser said of critical apartment complexes near 48th Avenue. Construction importance is addressing the plans call for the road to be widened. 36 Fall '13 Students operate on-campus BIKE SHOP Seeing an opportunity for sustainability, several students developed a plan to operate the campus bicycle rental program and enhance its services. The GVSU Bicycle Rental and Repair is operating in the Services Building on the Allendale Campus. Dominic Kootsillas-Conybeare, who graduated in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in statistics, developed the plan with two friends after receiving a start-up grant from Grand Valley's Sustainable Community Development Initiative. The university introduced a bike rental program to students, faculty and staff members several years ago. Kootsillas-Conybeare said his group studied that plan and added bicycle repair to make it more sustainable. "We're able to make small, basic repairs here, instead of sending the bikes out to area shops to be fixed," Kootsillas-Conybeare said. Bike repairs aren't limited to the rental inventory, anyone on campus can bring in their bikes for repairs; there is a fee for repairs. Last year, the 35 bicycles available for rental on campus were reserved quickly; KootsillasConybeare said more bikes have been added to the inventory. All bikers on campus are encouraged to register their bikes with the Grand Valley Police Department; visit www.gvsu/edu/gvpd for information. http://www.gvsu/edu/gvpd

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine - Fall 2013

Campus News
Athletics
Arts
Donor Impact
A Laker bucket list
Bridging the justice gap
Seidman House holds hidden national gems
International Education
Research
Why the humanities still matter
Q&A James Smither
Off the Path
Focal Point
Sustainability
Alumni News

Grand Valley Magazine - Fall 2013