Roll With It: Pedaling Toward a Sustainable Future for a Small University Town

Roll With It:

Pedaling Toward a Sustainable Future for a Small University Town

Jason D. Cooper University of Montevallo

Carmichael Library

Town…

Population: 6,403 (2011, est.) More educated than the state average Poverty rate in Montevallo is higher than in surrounding areas

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…and Gown

Enrollment: 3,100 30 degree programs with about 75 majors Member, Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges Environmental Studies minor added, 2010 Environmental Club is one of 80+ recognized clubs on campus 3

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A Sustainability Timeline

2005–2006 – University, local community act to block limestone quarry Fall 2008 – Environmental Studies minor proposed Fall 2009 – New campus wide Sustainability Committee is formed 2010 – Library implements paper-and energy-saving initiatives

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More Sustainability Initiatives

May 2010 – Sustainability @ UM web site, and Facebook Page launches Spring 2011 – UM Green Fund debuts October 2011 – ValloCycle Bike Share initiative begins lending

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Saving Ebenezer Swamp

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Call to Action

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15 Months Later…

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Sustainability @ UM

Original Sustainability Committee (2009-2011) contained faculty and staff New Committee from 2011-present is responsible for four main areas, including overseeing the UM Green Fund

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Internal Library Initiatives

Newspaper/periodical recycling “Lights off” placards on light switches Paper-saving initiative (2010)

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ValloCycle Launch Event

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Planning meetings began in 2010 Service launched in October 2011 Serves about 100 clients First city-wide bike share program in Alabama

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History of Bike-Sharing

First generation –Amsterdam White Bikes (1965) Second generation – Denmark (early 1990s) Third generation – Early examples include Velo’v (Lyon, France, 1995,) and the Bikeabout program Portsmouth University (UK, 1996)

(DeMaio, 2009)

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The Rise of Bike-Sharing

“Today more than 500 cities in 49 countries host advanced bike-sharing programs, with a combined fleet of over 500,000 bicycles.” As of April 2013, there were 26 active modern public programs in the United States

(Larsen, 2013)

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The Bike-Sharing World Map, maintained by R. Meddin, P. DeMaio

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Models of Bike-Share Programs

Governments Universities Non-profits Advertising companies For-profits

(DeMaio, 2009)

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Library personnel involved

Library director Circulation manager Database/website administrator Public relations assistant

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Other personnel

ValloCycle board, volunteers University professors, students City employees Public library director and staff

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Montevallo Tour-by-Bike

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Ready to Roll

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Montevallo’s Green Fund

Student driven, created as a result of petition Green Fund fee is directed toward sustainable projects across campus Students have a majority vote on the Sustainability Committee Library has been awarded three Green Fund grants

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Block That Sun!

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Green Fund Honors

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Questions/Discussion

Pedaling Toward a Sustainable Future for a Small University Town

Jason D. Cooper @jasondcooper

Resources Articles – Buckner, Heather. “ValloCycle Rolls On.” Shelby Living 21 Apr. 2013.

Web. 27 Apr. 2013 – DeMaio, Paul. “Bike-sharing: History, Impacts, Models of Provision,

and Future.” Journal of Public Transportation 12.4 (2009): 41-56. – Millard, Paul. “Tipping Point.” Architect Aug. 2012: 36-37.

Blog Posts – Larsen, Janet. “Bike Sharing Goes Global.” Grist. Earth Policy Institute,

27 Apr. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2013. – Osterweil, Willie. “What Can We Learn from the Bike-Sharing World

Map?” Shareable. Shareable, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 2 May 2013. Web Sites – The Bike-Sharing Blog http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/ – ValloCycle http://www.vallocycle.com

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Postlude…

Some photos of ValloCycle in the community… – April 28, 2012 Bike Rack Installations

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