As students walk through the Free Expression Tunnel toward their early morning classes, a heavy silence prevails, pierced with occasional laughter. Then the buzz of spinning axles fills the air, setting off a chain reaction.
A few heads turn in time to jump out of the way, but one unsuspecting pedestrian continues ahead as a biker swerves, narrowly avoiding an accident.
Similar situations occur every day on campus.
After a few close run-ins with bikers, some pedestrians have a dim view of those riding bikes.
Chase Lyerly, a junior in communication, vocalized a concern for students who narrowly miss being hit by students speeding down the sidewalk.
“I think [biking] is OK as long as they stay off of sidewalks,” Lyerly said.
And to avoid disaster, he added it is important for bikers to use hand signals when turning.
From living off campus without a car to traveling efficiently, student bikers usually have good reasons for biking to class.
Lauren Pegram, a junior in art and design, said frugality and convenience motivates her to ride her bike.
“It saves gas and I don’t have to deal with parking,” she said.
“You get around faster,” Joliet Clark, a freshman in sports management, said. “Sometimes I have to bike from Harrelson to Biltmore.”
The issue of having to travel across campus within a 15-minute class change is a common problem. Sometimes, Clark said, biking is the only solution.
Student parking can also be a problem on campus due to the cost of permits.
And these rates aren’t going down.
According to David Gregory, Transportation’s parking services manager, parking permit rates increased, on average, 3 percent from the 2006-2007 school year to the current year.
Parking permits themselves, he said, range in price from the lowest-priced spot, located in the storage lot — $175 — to the highest-priced spots in the parking decks — $287.
Although those who use their bikes as a primary mode of transportation do not have to purchase parking permits to take a trip downtown or meet a friend for coffee on Hillsborough Street, they do experience another type of inconvenience: crowds.
Pegram acknowledged the frustrating aspects of biking to class. She said she has found that pedestrians are often unaware of bikers.
And while she said she’s hesitant to say anything negative, she does request that people become more conscious of their surroundings, including those riding bikes.
Clark said she has yet to find a major problem with biking alongside students, although she does find it difficult to weave through the congestion in the Free Expression Tunnel.
While some pedestrians, such as Lyerly, think bikers are occasionally inconsiderate of people walking to class, many biking accidents have more to do with hectic circumstances than blatant disregard for others.
Clark said she almost hit a pedestrian after a car blocked her view, and Pegram said she remembered a time when she accidentally pulled out in front of a Wolfline bus.
