The New York Times recently reported on the increasing trend of colleges and universities starting to provide students with free bicycles as a way to ease parking shortages and the environmental impacts of transportation. The University of Missouri-Kansas City is among that group, and one of the few in the Midwest. UMKC works with Bridging the Gap’s Clean Commute program to provide 26 students with bikes for an entire semester, with plans to double the number in the spring.

Increasing transportation choice is especially important for a campus like UMKC, where very few students live on campus.  Yet many students do live nearby around the Midtown area, so they are within an easily bikeable radius of campus.

• Missouri Bicycle Federation: UMKC’s Clean Commute Program encourages bicycling, walking, and transit usage.
• UMKC Univeristy news: Peddling towards cleaner commutes.
• Bridging the Gap: UMKC Clean Commute program info.