Author: Stephanie Y., C’08
When I was an undergrad, I knew a number of students who rode their bikes regularly whether it was for commuting (biking to classes), for fun (biking to and from downtown), or for exercise (biking along the Schuylkill River and on Kelly Drive). Now I work full-time at Perelman School of Medicine (formerly known as Penn Med), and I am always pleasantly surprised to see how many employees also ride their bikes to and from Penn.
The bike racks by my building are always full by 9am, so people who show up five minutes late to work have to lock their bikes to trees. This does not seem environmentally-friendly to me, but as you can see, people do it!
The bike racks in front of my building are not even the most crowded on campus. You should go see the bike racks outside the Biomedical Library – I don’t even bother looking for a spot there.
So, you can imagine I was thrilled when I heard through the grapevine that some Penn alumni classes are working with The Penn Fund to donate new bike racks to Penn. Let’s hear it for Penn Alumni! Their mission is in line with Penn’s Green Campus Partnership and Reducing Emissions Initiative. Even though there are already many bike racks on campus, we definitely need more!
Frankly Penn 
Great piece, Stephanie! On one of my favorite subjects. Biked from U. City home downtown to work (6 miles RT), rain, shine, or snow, for 8 years. (Now swimming at 60 in Chicago!)
Given the change in the parking meters around campus, it makes me wonder if those left-behind polls could be put to better use by converting them into bike racks?
Good point, Corey. The city has converted many meter posts:
but they may not be as great as they seem:
http://bnb.poseur.com/philadelphias-new-bike-racks-a-thiefs-best-fr