Every new academic year brings thousands of students, faculty, staff and guests to UH Manoa, some returning and some arriving for the first time, and with them comes a flood of new energy and opportunity. A collaboration of various groups are seizing upon this moment to promote sustainable and safe transportation. As always, Cycle Manoa is working hard to get students on bikes. The UPASS program is still being enjoyed by thousands of students. And adding something new to the scene, a partnership of actors just kicked off Move with Aloha.
Move with Aloha is comprised of the following three initiatives to ensure the welfare and safety of the campus community:
1) Share Zones (walk your wheels during high pedestrian traffic).
2) Sharrow Lanes (lanes shared by bicyclists and motorists).
3) Bicycle Routes (designated to support a safe commute to and from campus).
Share zones and sharrow lanes both involve ground markings which signal travelers to move safely and clearly designate a hierarchy of users whereby bicyclists yield to pedestrians in share zones and motorists yield to bicyclists in sharrow lanes. Since the markings only involve no infrastructure or physical changes, their effectiveness will depend on our response as a community.
Transportation is a centerpiece to many of the problems we have here in Honolulu –traffic congestion and lack of parking; and in society at large – health issues from inactivity, high transportation costs, fossil fuel dependence, and global warming. Non-motorized modes of travel such as walking and bicycling provide a low-cost solution to all of these big problems.
The Move with Aloha program represents a great addition by biggest traffic generator in the state. It is a program that focuses on the sharing of common resources to enable rapid action. The ‘sharrows’ epitomize this approach as they work to create bicycle-friendly roadways by adding paint to the ground; the University is acting as a laboratory for this low cost solution.
While Move with Aloha has much potential for encouraging and making safer non-motorized travel, it is also a program that epitomizes the HUB (Help Us Bridge) way. When the Vice Chancelor of Non-Academic Affairs wanted to develop a program to deal with pedestrian safety, they reached out to the student and faculty community. The program was developed between different University offices, including Facilities and the Office of Sustainability, students and faculty through the UHM Bicycle Committee and Cycle Manoa. From broad program principles to the finite details all parties were involved in the development of Move with Aloha. As an example of how this partnership worked, Cycle Manoa was asked to map the placement of the sharrows. This took advantage of the student group’s extensive knowledge of cycling on the campus and feedback networks with the cycling community; and allowed the group to take the lead on one of the most important aspects of the program. The end result of the process is a great program and the development of partnerships that will undoubtedly enable further action.
The story of the development of the Move with Aloha program serves as a great example of the power of bridging across organizations and groups to create great outcomes for all. As many challenges and opportunities sit before us, we must continue to engage and pursue action in a HUB way. As mentioned in a previous blog and still in the works, the Office of Parking is in the process of getting a car-share program established at the University. As this process moves further along, more potential for constructive collaboration definitely looms on the horizon.
cheers and happy travels,
Daniel Alexander
sUH Transportation Coordinator
