Clean Air Campus in the Spotlight: Bard College’s Electric Bike-Sharing Program

Walking around the Bard College Campus in Annandale-On-Hudson, NY, you’ll see plenty of hurried college students and racks filled with the bicycles many of them use to get to class. Look closer and you’ll find some of these bikes are electric. Bard, a Clean Air Campus, recently started a bike-sharing program available to the entire college community. Bard is in a relatively rural area, but it is no stranger to the transportation problems that can affect college campuses and fast-developing communities. Bard operates its own shuttle between campus and the two closest towns, but many of the student parking lots nevertheless now regularly run out of spaces as car traffic increases. This new bike program helps solve this problem; students, faculty and staff can sign out the bikes for an entire day. In addition, there are several bikes available exclusively for use by staff for on-campus travel.

As an alternative to motor vehicle travel, the electric bike is perfect for short distances. It has no direct emissions and is easy to use even for those of us with little biking experience. The electricity is run with the push of a button, so the user can peddle as much or as little as wanted. Hopefully, the electric bike also opens the user up to the world of biking itself, to develop a habit of biking and to realize the benefits - personal health, cleaner air and a better environment - that biking offers. This one program will not solve all the transportation and pollution problems that Bard has, but it is nonetheless a step forward and is part of how we ultimately hope to improve transportation at Bard and in the local community. The program foreshadows a cleaner and healthier future, filled with smaller and emptier parking lots. The only way that can happen is through our own individual steps to start the processes by which such change arrives. At Bard College, the electric bike program is an opportunity to do just that.

Guest Blog by Bartek Starodaj, Bard College, a Clean Air Campus, Class of 2011.

Get Some Relief from the Heat of High Gas Prices and Clean Our Air of Excess Pollutants: Dive into Carpooling!

Finally, summer has embraced New York's metro area! It's time for family picnics in parks, outdoor parties, relaxing in hammocks, sports and other exercise outdoors. During the warm summer days, we feel good to be outside and filling our lungs with some fresh air. However, New York's air needs to be healthier.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New York's downstate region does not meet federal standards for air quality. As indicated by EPA tests, the air has harmful pollutants, a risk not only to sensitive groups, such as people with asthma or emphysema, but to those without health problems. Studies have also shown that pollutants can aggravate symptoms in people with pre-existing conditions, such as heart disease or high blood pressure.

The increasing numbers of people with respiratory problems signal that something is stirring in our air, even if some people do not think there are harmful effects.

Our cars are major contributors to air pollution. Most people believe that a single car is not going to make a difference, so they choose to drive by themselves. But each car that is on the road is releasing pollutants, and too many cars equal air pollution. How do we solve this problem? By jumping into something that some New Yorkers may be wary of - carpooling.

If more of us carpooled to work or to our summer activities, we'd experience some great benefits - fuel bills would be cut; there would be less wear and tear on our cars; there would be fewer cars on the road and, thus, less traffic; passengers would catch up on reading, e-mails or shut-eye; and our air would be healthier.

Some might think the idea of carpooling and not being in control of our own transit would feel like a nuisance. We might fear being at work, far from home and needing to get back home in case of an emergency and having no transportation. That is why your local transportation management association (TMA) offers a guaranteed ride home program that allows employees paid rides in the event that their transportation from work is unavailable. For more information, visit your appropriate TMA's Web site:

• MetroPool for commuters traveling within the Lower Hudson River Valley.
• CommuterLink for commuters traveling in and to New York City.
  
• Long Island Transportation Management (LITM) for commuters traveling in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island.
  

These organizations also help commuters enter the carpooling system, linking people who want to carpool with others in their area. To find a carpool partner or vanpool in your area, visit www.511ny.org.

When comparing carpooling to driving alone, carpooling is the more environmentally friendly option. High-occupancy vehicle lanes on some major highways allow passenger cars with at least two people to travel amid less congestion. Some people may love the comfort of their own cars for various reasons, but try stepping away from your comfort zone and carpool for the greater good.

Take some relief from the heat of high gas prices and clean up the air that we breathe - it's time to dive into carpooling!

Guest blog by Jessica Wade, Clean Air NY/MetroPool summer intern.