To the editor,

Mea culpa!  The new Campus Walkway Policy informs me that I have
been creating an unsafe condition for pedestrians these past 26
years by riding my bike on campus walkways.  I guess I need to
apologize to all those thousands of campus pedestrians whose safety
was compromised by my actions.

By the most incredible luck, none of those pedestrians was ever
harmed by the unsafe situation I created.  I suppose that might
have been because I took what seemed to me to be reasonable and
adequate precautions.  

When near pedestrians, I rode slowly, expecting that they might
change speed or direction without warning.  Over the years, there
were many times when they did just that.  I gave them plenty of
room, never brushing by their elbow.  I often said "hi there" 
before overtaking them. 

But prudence, courtesy and common sense aren't enough these days.
In their place, we now have a blanket declaration: "unsafe" and a
bureaucracy of rules and permits destined to change the historic
character of campus mobility.  In this country, university towns 
are where bikes most commonly are used to get around (FHWA Biking 
& Walking Case Study #4).  We'll turn that trend around.

It has always seemed to me that it would be prudent and
advantageous for the university to develop policies in conjunction
with the members of the university community who would be affected
by those policies (see the AAUP Joint Statement on Rights and 
Freedoms of Students, 1967).  

It may be that bicyclists, and other campus vehicle operators, could
have helped to produce a policy that would meet the need for walkway
safety in a way that could be endorsed and supported by all walkway
users.

Bob Bayn
x7-2396