Given the flagrant disregard for road rules observed by some in Philadelphia, riding a bike to and from Center City has often taken on the appearance of an extreme sport. Then, when you get to campus (alive if not unscathed), you’re hard pressed to ensure your bike isn’t stolen from its rack while you hastily check out a book from Van Pelt. You’re not even safe on your own two feet sometimes, as bike riders come whizzing down Locust Walk at 60 miles an hour, often in the middle of the day.

Thankfully, Penn is responding to the dangers and inconviences of biking:

• The Division of Public Safety launched a “Share the Road” campaign, summarized in this nifty brochure, aimed at educating drivers and bikers about how to ride on the same road together,
• Penn will install more bike racks around campus (by Fall 2009) to accommodate more cyclists and provide more safe places to store your bike,
• New signs will be placed around Locust Walk explaining the University policy that you cannot ride a bike there during class hours, followed by expanded enforcement of this rule by DPS,
• Local vendors will only sell U-Locks for bikes. This is good, because A CABLE LOCK IS NO BETTER THAN NO LOCK AT ALL. If you tie your bike to a pole with a cable lock, your bike will be stolen. QED. Invest in a U-Lock.

This semester, reacting to plans announced by the City and other stakeholders to permit Foxwoods to construct a casino near Chinatown, the UA called on Penn to commission a study into the new casino location, similar to the study done by Penn Praxis on the previously announced site of the casino on the waterfront. The UA resolution generated significant press coverage in the local press.

In addition, a task force led by Mark Pan, the UA’s Civic and Community Engagement Director, and Mark Chou of the Living Water Christian Fellowship launched a major multi-partisan panel discussion on the casino development, filling a large Huntsman classroom with curious students.

As the approval process for the proposed Foxwoods casino moves forward, the UA will keep a watch on an issue that has a large impact on the local community, including undergraduates living at Penn.

Penn will produce, in September 2009, a Climate Action Plan to tackle campus sustainability – from academics to transit to energy to recycling (as this summary report shows). Next year, Penn will start implementing its plan for carbon neutrality, with a combination of improvements on campus and wind power purchases. The UA and the Penn Environmental Group will be there every step of the way, making sure that changes to campus are in line with student needs.

Check below the fold for more details about what Penn’s doing in sustainability. Read more…

The City of Philadelphia is poised to implement a city-wide Bike Sharing program, which will directly benefit Penn students.

Bike sharing usually takes the form of a government-administered system akin to car rental where you book a bike to be picked up at one location and dropped off at another. Hence, bike sharing s especially useful for commuters, who take a bike from their home to work and then take another bike from work to home. For Penn students, bike sharing could alleviate the pain of science or math majors who want to get from their 40th street college house to the DRL!

To urge the City to bring Bike Sharing to Philadelphia faster, the UA passed a Bike Sharing Resolution. Sure enough, the City responded to lobbying from Penn and others and announced in the Greenworks Philadelphia initiative a comprehensive plan for city-wide bike sharing!