Traffic

Kyra Breslin

Article 1

Biking: More than just transportation

If one could walk, drive or ride a bike around campus, I am sure many would think that most college students walk. Generally speaking this may be true, but for students at Indiana University, riding a bike seems like the best way to get around. Surrounded by the exquisite beauty of IU Bloomington’s campus, riding a bike is a great alternative to walking and for those without a car. So why not bike?

Bike riding not only provides students with a means from point A to point B, but is also safer for our environment and reduces the amount of traffic we experience during the weekdays. IU offers plenty of parking for individuals that are registered and have a permit for their bike. Bloomington transit buses offer a “Bike ‘n’ Ride” service where the buses are equipped to transport you and your bike to your final destination. Bike racks are outside nearly every IU campus building, and with a reasonable 10$ one time registration fee, biking proves itself to be more practical than paying for expensive parking on campus.

Aside from the obvious reasons that one chooses to ride a bike at IU, biking also plays an integral role in scholarship funding. Indiana University is well known in schools across the nation for the Little 500; a bicycle race modeled after the Indianapolis 500. All the proceeds raised by participants go to the schools scholarship fund. “Little 5” as many students abbreviate, is accompanied by a week of packed festivities that gives the students at this known party school more reason to celebrate. The term Little 5 has expanded from referring to the race but to describe the week in which students spend drinking and attending various music performances, proving that bike riding stands for more than an easier way to get to and from class.

The race is held annually at Bill Armstrong Stadium, a 6,500 person capacity stadium located in Bloomington, Indiana. The events of Little 500 were...