On Wednesday the University of Arizona launched a bike and pedestrian study aimed at reducing crashes and increasing the number of people biking and walking to campus.

According to a 2009 transportation report, 27 percent of people coming to campus get there by biking or walking, but 40 percent of the people who live within five-miles drive to campus alone.

University of Arizona student Chloe Forsman is working for the UA Parking and Transportation department who is conducting the study with the help of the Pima Association of Governments.

She said they realized that very little information was known about biking and walking on campus.

“We realized that there are already really high rates of bicycling and walking on campus, but at the same time not a lot of information was known about people who are biking and walking, why they are doing so and what their safety concerns are,” Forsman said.

She said gathering that information will help improve safety and hopefully get more people biking and walking to the University.

According to Ann Chanecka, a transportation planner at PAG, they are utilizing increased bike counts, video recording of conflict zones, open houses and a survey to gather the pertinent information.

Forsman said the 2010-2011 academic year will be devoted to gathering the information. After that she hopes they can develop a bicycle and pedestrian plan and begin implementing improvements to infrastructure and education on campus.

Take the survey here.

What do you think the UA needs to do to improve biking and walking on campus? Leave a comment below.

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