(VIDEO) Texas Tech moved up from Bronze designation and is currently the highest-level designation of any campus in Texas.
The League of American Bicyclists announced today that Texas Tech University has been awarded a silver designation in the Bicycle Friendly University program. After being awarded a bronze designation in 2013, Texas Tech is the only university in the state to have a silver designation.
After receiving the bronze designation in 2013, the population of bicyclists at Texas Tech has risen, said Stacy Stockard, media relations coordinator for Transportation & Parking Services.
To apply for the higher designation in the Bicycle Friendly University program, Stockard said various departments and entities around campus, including the Outdoor Pursuits Center, Grounds Maintenance, the Student Government Association and Citibus, made improvements to help attain the higher designation. These improvements included adding bike racks to high traffic areas around campus, implementing the free bike clinic and improving signals at intersections at the boundaries of campus.
Stockard said Transportation & Parking Services was thrilled to find out about the higher designation.
"We were hopeful the added improvements would help Texas Tech qualify," Stockard said, "but you never know until the notice arrives."
Stockard said Transportation & Parking Services is proud to show Texas Tech leads the way in university bicycling in Texas.
"This designation benchmarks the university's efforts compared to the rest of the country," Stockard said. "It's a great feeling to be at the top for Texas. We also want students and employees to know that bicycling issues are an important part of the campus transportation discussion."
Reaching the silver designation means Texas Tech has met each of the five criteria
of being a bicycle friendly university: engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement
and evaluation, Stockard said. This silver designation also shows Texas Tech has a
growing bicycle culture and the university has a strong commitment to cycling.
To attain an even higher designation, Texas Tech has to strengthen each of the criteria.
Stockard said future improvements will likely be seen in the engineering and encouragement
areas.
"Improving bicycling on campus is an ongoing process and one our office thinks about and researches daily," Stockard said. "We always welcome suggestions from our cyclists. If you're passionate about cycling, share your voice with us or on a committee."
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