By Sean Grier
STATE COLLEGE – State College is known for having a lot of foot traffic downtown. How many of those people are walking or biking to or from work? Probably more than you would think. According to the United States Census Bureau State College ranks third in the nation for number of people to bike or walk to work in a small city. 36 percent of State College residents walk to and from work. In order to keep drivers aware that they are sharing the roads with non-drivers, the State College borough council set in place a campaign. Communication and Special Projects Coordinator for State College borough Courtney Hayden says that the campaign was designed to educate and encourage drivers and bikers to share the road.
“We have a number of shared use paths, more than most communities do. But where we lacked was in the educational component and the encouragement component.”
Some State College residents say that it isn’t all on the drivers but can be on the walkers and bikers as well. Local biker Rob Miller says he thinks that pedestrians can cause just as many problems as drivers. “A lot of kids assume they can just kind of walk whenever they want across the road even if the cars have an on-coming green light.” Miller also says that drivers should be aware of pedestrians that may not be paying attention. It is common to see people walking and looking at their phones so drivers and even bikers should be aware of those who may not be.
The township borough has implemented road signs to indicate shared pathways
The campaign is focused on making State College a more pedestrian-friendly town. Through the campaign they hope to make people feel safer on the roads and to help avoid accidents. The campaign targets mainly Penn State students that may not have been commuting via bike previously. It also tries to educate those who might not know the rules of the road. Putting up new signs is designed to help those people. Hayden says that studies and surveys are done to identify where to place new signs in hopes of making the commute safer for both drivers and non-drivers.