The University Park Student Fee Board met Friday to hear its final allocation request presentation from Penn State Transportation Services for its bike master plan.

The presentation for Transportation Services’ bike master plan was given in conjunction with Cecily Zhu, sustainable transportation program coordinator, and Rob DeMayo, director of transportation services.

There are four components to Penn State Transportation Services: parking, fleet, transit, and sustainable transportation.

The department manages about 21,700 parking spaces spread across the University Park campus. It is also responsible for about 500 of the university’s 2,000 pieces of transportation equipment, including the campus shuttle and Blue Buses that transport sports teams.

In addition, transportation services hold a $3 million contract with CATA to provide various transportation loops within and around campus, such as the beloved Bloop and Whoops.

A bike share, car share, and bike education program all fall under the department’s sustainable transportation component. The bike share program itself provides more than 15,000 rides a year to students, faculty, and staff.

After releasing a campus travel survey in 2017, Transportation Services received student and employee feedback surrounding the want for improved biking and pedestrian resources around campus. In response, the department plans on developing and implementing its new bike master plan by the end of the 2021 fiscal year.

Transportation Services is requesting $200,000 from the Student Fee Board for its new bike master plan, and the department itself is committed to a minimum fund match of 15%.

The department is seeking a third-party team of specialized consultants to assist them in the development of this plan. Creating this separate plan specifically for bike transportation allows for more detailing than if the initiative were to be included in the general campus master plan.

Upon implementation of this plan, Transportation Services hopes to improve health and wellbeing, student and campus safety, and overall environmental stability.

Seeing as this was the final allocation request presentation, the board will now hold deliberations over the coming weeks before reaching its final allocation amounts for each office.