Bicyclists at WSU face a challenges that often deter those within the Pullman bicyclist community from riding.

“The two top issues of why people don’t ride bikes are weather and hills. Weather we can’t do much about, but the hills we can,” said Andrew Stephenson, junior civil engineering major and president of Cyclists Representative Student Body (CRSB).

CRSB began as the Cycleway Project in spring 2013, with the goal of increasing bike paths and overall cyclist accessibility on the WSU Pullman campus.

The group has since rebranded themselves, Stephenson said, with the hope to continue reaching the cyclists across campus.

“We want to improve the bicycle culture here,” he said.

Many of the projects and ideas the group works on involves the maintenance of bike paths, as well as creating alternate routes for bikes, that go around hills, as opposed to over them, Stephenson said.

“Our role is to talk to the students, and address their concerns to people who make the designs,” said Elisha Ondov, CRSB member and senior civil engineering major.

This year, one of the issues the group faces involves bicycle parking.

Stephenson said he was informed earlier this semester that he was not allowed to tie up his bike outside his university owned apartment.

He said WSU Housing and Residence Life has an order that does not allow bikes to be tied to anything other than bike racks.

Anything tied to a tree, railing, column, etc., will be considered abandoned and removed, Stephenson said.

He said he reached out to WSU Transportation Services, who in turn contacted the Department of Housing and Resident Life about the issue.

Transportation Services ultimately installed a bike rack outside Stephenson’s apartment, and will continue to install the bike racks across the campus and at university housing, Stephenson said.

“If we get contacted by people wanting a new bike rack somewhere, we can work to try and get it for them,” he said, encouraging student action to speed up the process.

Matthew Filer, senior mechanical engineering major, said the CRSB is also involved with the Emerging Green Builders, a student organization dedicated to sustainable building.

The clubs are separate, but work together to achieve their goals of a more sustainable campus, Filer said.

“We are jointly going to apply for the Green Fund, which can give up to $20,000,” he said.

With the Green Fund, both groups plan on using the money to support their individual groups.

“The (CRSB) is planning on using that money to designate areas through paints, signs, or other forms of designation to allow cyclists to ride more safely,” Filer said.

With continued student support, both groups hope to create developments that promote a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle that is easier for students to access.

“I’ve seen these amazing infrastructures abroad, and I want to bring that here,” Stephenson said.

The CRSB meets monthly, and the next meeting is on Nov.6.

For more information, contact Andrew Stephenson at [email protected], or the Emerging Green Builders at [email protected].