Walking vs. biking on campus: Walking

Walking, driving, biking, skateboarding, taking the bus and cruising on an electric scooter are all great ways to get around campus. However, it is also common to know someone who has gone to the hospital or been injured from attempting to skateboard, scooter or bike around the bumpy brick sidewalks. The paths are subpar for anything besides walking.

Driving is nice, but any commuter will tell you how difficult it can be to get a decent parking spot unless you are arriving at the crack of dawn, and sometimes even the decent parking spots are still a long walk or ride away from where you need to be.

Electric scooters may provide some convenience, but the cost can quickly add up if it is your primary mode of transportation and you don’t own one. Biking and skateboarding are cheaper methods of getting around, but the pathways are often crowded with people and have missing or uneven bricks throughout, which can lead to accidents.

The bus can take you far, but the wait times or route can be too long to make sense for where you need to go and when. If you are a commuter trying to take the bus during Convocation, you’re out of luck. If the weather is too snowy or stormy, you’re also out of luck.

Taking the bus can cause you to be late to a class if you miss it. Not to mention, when you do get on the bus, you are crammed in with several other students, and only the lucky few get a seat and avoid the balancing act that is standing on a moving bus.

According to the Iowa State University Institute for Transportation, walking as one of your primary modes of transportation has several benefits and can help prevent many health conditions. Additionally, the more people walk, the more pollution is reduced. Walking is more common in other countries than in the United States, and perhaps it is time to take advantage of that mindset during this time at a very walkable college campus.

There are not a lot of walkable places in the U.S., and unless you live in a major city, you end up pretty dependent on motorized transportation. Take advantage of the time on campus to slow down and enjoy walking to your classes, your meals and your study sessions. Take advantage of these few years where you don’t have to be dependent on motorized transportation, if you don’t already live in a walkable place.

The safest, most consistent, cheapest, healthiest, least time-consuming way to get around campus is walking. It can be done in pretty much any weather if dressed appropriately, it’s free, there’s no wait time and you’re at less risk of injury. When you leave your dorm today, instead of walking to the bus stop, consider getting in some extra steps and walking all the way to your destination instead.   

Carter is an opinion writer for the Liberty Champion