Transportation at Dickinson
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Reducing Emissions Through Sustainable Transportation
Two bike-share programs lend bikes to Dickinson students and employees for free. Dickinson Red Bikes can be borrowed from the Department of Public Safety for short-term use during daylight hours. The new Green Bikes Program, coordinated by The Center for Sustainability Education, lends bikes for a semester. Green bikes are rebuilt by volunteers with donated parts in The Handlebar, a volunteer run bike shop that opened in 2012. The Handlebar also provides space, technical assistance, and swap-shop for students and employees to maintain, repair and rebuild bikes. Biking@dickinson, an active listserv, is used to share information about biking in the region and to organize rides (e-mail biking@dickinson.edu to subscribe). The Bike-to-Farm Potluck is a popular event held every semester.
Dickinson College worked with the Carlisle Borough and other members of the community to study transportation problems in Carlisle. The study resulted in a $2.8 million ‘Road Diet’ being funded and implemented by PennDOT. The Road Diet has alleviated some traffic issues and made Carlisle more pedestrian and bicycle friendly by reducing High and Hanover streets from two to one lane in each direction in the downtown core, adding bike lanes, adding turning lanes, and other changes.
An online Dickinson Ride-Share Board is available to help members of the Dickinson community make connections to share rides for daily commuting and other trips. Dickinson owns eleven hybrid passenger vehicles for use by faculty and staff when traveling on college business. Hybrid Zipcars are available for rent to students as well as faculty and staff. Capital Area Transit runs buses between Carlisle, Harrisburg and other locations in the region.