October 26, 1998

Attention all bicycle
commuters! As _ the
days get shorter and the
weather colder, do you
start thinking about
encasing yourself back
in the automobile? Or
waiting for the ever elu-
sive Prince George
Transit? Or do you pull
out the Gortex, put
spikes in your tires and
pedal on? !f you match
the fatter profile then |
would love to hear from
you.

UNBC currently allo-
cates roughly 300,000
square feet of land to
the private automobile,
there are 1174 parking
spots. There are four
bicycle racks. UNBC
does not have adequate
facilities for bicycle
commuters. Once arriv-
ing to the university the

cyclist has the option to
stuff all their wet clothes

in a couple of cubic feet.

of locker. Putting on
wet gear at the end of
the school day isn't
much fun (still far more
invigorating than getting
in a car and driving
home though!) I have
two lockers: one in the
fitness center ($15.00
per semester) to store
my clothes, and one by
the registrar’s office
($14.95 per semester)
for my school needs. |
also pay for a towel ser-
vice ($14.00 per month)
at the fitness center, as
the lockers are simply
too small to store one.
Total cost for all of the
above per semester is
$85.95. Aone semester
parking pass at UNBC
costs $128.40.

LETTERS
Cycling for Higher Education

Considering the differ-
ence between cars and
bikes in terms of con-
sumption and _ land
usage, UNBC is offering
those who drive to the
university a grossly
unfair subsidy. How
about we tack on an
extra $0.50 or $1.00 to
the parking pass cost
and dump that money
into bicycle commuter
facilities — possibly tall
lockers or a secure
room where cyclists can
hang up their wet gear?

Those who choose to
ride, walk, run, roller
blade, or take the bus to
get to where they have
to go not only have
more fun, they are
doing all humans and
other life forms a great
favour. We have to
rebuild our depleted

DO YOUR OPINIONS COUNT?

WILL SOMEONE ACTUALLY PAY YOU
FOR YOUR OPINION?

YES, WE WILL.

Metroline Research Group Inc. is a Kitchener/Waterloo
based marketing research company. Our business is
conducting focus groups for clients that range from various
government agencies to banks, car companies, beer
companies and smoking manufacturers.

We are currently conducting market research with residents
of Prince George on the topic of SMOKING.

We want to ensure you right away that we never try to sell

you anything. Your name and number are never known to

anyone else, and we promise to respect your privacy. All
information is confidential.

Focus groups usually last 2 hours and you are paid in cash
for your time and opinion.

If you are interested in attending, or would like further
information, we encourage you to give us a call at

561-8532

Metroline Research Group Inc. is a member of the Canadian Professional
Research Society and the Better Business Bureau

carbon sink soon, or our
life styles will spiral
down. To do that we
have to stop paving
over the earth. To do
that we have to stop dri-
ving (50% of car-trips in
North America are
under 10 kilometers!).
To do that we have to
change, and plan our
communities (and our
attitudes) so that we
can exist without the
automobile. It is unfor-
tunate our _ society
penalizes those who try
to walk softer on our
planet and subsidizes
those who don't, or at
least are unaware of the
true costs of their trans-
portation choice. The
marketers appeal to a
sense of ‘family values’
while trying to sell a
mini-van. It may be
convenient for those
consumptive trips to the

Over The Edge Page 5

shopping mall, but our
children require a .03%
carbon atmosphere just
like the rest of us.
Threatening that is not a
reflection of good ‘fami-
ly values.’

Again | have side
tracked from my original
point. The purpose of
this long-winded rant is
to bring cycle com-
muters together so we
can discuss such issues
and come up with viable
solutions. Or exchange
tips on topics such as
winter riding. Or how to
ride up that hill in a
more efficient and less
tiring manner. Or have
a potluck... Or discuss
how we can convince
the ‘missing links’ in
Prince George to switch
from Budweiser bottles
to cans so we don’t get
as many flat tires. Most
importantly though, the

purpose of this letter is
to -invite others who
would like to cycle com-
mute but are intimidated
by such things as traffic.
We could form what is
known as ‘bike buddies’
where experienced
cycle commuters ride
with the not so experi-
enced to offer up knowl-
edge on how to get from
point A to B in one
piece.

To sum it all up, | sup-
pose what | would like
to see happen is a
‘UNBC Cycle
Commuters Club’
formed. That's got a
ring to it eh? The
UNBCCCC. So if any of
the above rant interests
you please contact me
at murphy1@unbc.ca

Thank You
Kevin Murphy

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