[IMC] Press Release: More Than A Shop: Campus Bike Center Fights for Sustainability

[Megan Flowers]

*​​*
*Press Release**For Immediate Release*
May 13, 2014

*For media inquiries, contact:* Matthew Malec, Spokesperson
[217-298-1007, bauzerr at gmail.com]



*MORE THAN A SHOP*

Campus Bike Center Fights For Sustainability

*[Champaign-Urbana, IL -May 15, 2014]* BikeFace, a program of the
University YMCA, announces that if the Campus Bike Center does not raise
$50,000 by June 30, 2014, the Center will have to cease programming and
shutdown operations. BikeFace, who serves the Center as an advocacy
liaison, is seeking both private and public donors to build a solidarity
fund to support the Center’s operations as they fight for a sustainable
transportation culture on campus. On C-U Bike to Work Day, May 15th,
BikeFace will be out at the U of I Engineering Plaza from 7am to 10am
asking campus and community members to pledge their support of the Campus
Bike Center.

C-U Bike to Work Day is not only a great way to promote biking as a viable
commuting option; it’s also an opportunity for residents to show their
support for improved bicycle facilities, says Florence Lin of BikeFace.
Pledging to support the Campus Bike Center in any way possible, through
service, advocacy or donations, means taking that critical step towards
impacting overall public safety, reducing injuries and fatalities resulting
from crashes.

Since opening in 2010 through a grant from the Student Sustainability
Committee, the Campus Bike Center continues to build upon its mission of
advocating for well-being of Champaign-Urbana through bike safety and
affordable access.  However, the three-year seed funding ran out this year.
Although capital expenditures are paid in full, the Center is not left with
enough in the budget to pay a full time staff person as required by the
University of Illinois to keep the doors open.

“The Campus Bike Center as a hands-on, educational space is the most
visible component of this campus and community partnership,” says Matthew
Malec, spokesperson of the Campus Bike Center Solidarity Fund. “However,
the Center is also coordinating the implementation of necessary biking
infrastructure to assure the safety and health of our communities.”

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was one of the first
campuses in the nation to adopt a bikeway network when the first bike paths
were constructed here in the 1950s.  Since that time, while enrollment and
staffing has doubled, funding cutbacks have led to degraded and
disconnected pathways, outdated and insufficient bicycle parking, and
limited support for bicycle services and programs. Despite these setbacks,
bicycle ridership has grown at the University of Illinois in the last
decade, and is expected to continue to grow in the future.

###

-- 
Best,
Megan Flowers
Communications Director
University YMCA
Office: 217-337-1500
Fax: 217-337-1533
Email: megan at universityymca.org
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