One excellent transportation strategy for UA students is to
ride a bicycle. You can get across campus quickly, parking is easy and free,
and the campus is set up for bikes much better than for cars or most public
transportation.
However, it is difficult to manage without a car for trips
that include hauling groceries or large bags with you. If you don’t own a car
you would have to try to hitch a ride with someone for trips that involve
cargo. And to get to that cheap grocery
store 2 miles from campus, so you are emitting about 1.8 kg of CO2 to get there
and back. It would be better for the environment if you could ride your bike.
This is where Xtracycle, a company producing accessories
that enable a bike to carry anything from groceries to oversized speakers,
comes in. With this, you can bike around with your groceries or your two weeks
of laundry. You can be the ride for your friends or give your date a ride home.
Your transportation also provides exercise and pleasant social opportunities. There is a documentary coming out about the
cargo bike movement, “More Car Less Go.” http://www.lizcanning.com/Liz_Canning_Creative/Cargo_Bike_Documentary.html
Tucson is fortunate to have several organization dedicated
to bikes. BICAS, the Bicycle Intercommunity Art & Salvage, has served the
community for 25 years, recycling bikes and teaching people maintenance. http://bicas.org/
The Living Streets Alliance puts on Cyclovia and Bike Fest
activities such as bike-in movies. http://www.livingstreetsalliance.org/
There is a Tuesday Night Bike Ride that gathers at 8pm every
week the UA at the flagpole to the West of Old Main
