By providing a boost in security for cyclists, the Sustainability Office is hoping to reduce the Queen’s community’s environmental footprint.

Steel fences now enclose an area near the courtyard between Mackintosh-Corry Hall and Dunning Hall, providing a secure parking facility specially made for bikes, a response to the threat of theft, one of the main barriers many cyclists list for not commuting between home and the university, explains Aaron Ball, Sustainability Manager at Queen’s.

“Transportation is one element of sustainability and we look at the environmental footprint of our commuters going back and forth to campus every day and seek to promote alternative modes of transportation,” Mr. Ball says. “The average Queen’s commuter is emitting about four tonnes a year just in their commute. So anywhere we can reduce that is a good thing both for Queen’s and the environment in general.”

With the facility complete, the registration for the year-long memberships is now open on the Sustainability Office website – $20 for students and $30 for staff and faculty.

Previously the space was largely unused yet was ideally suited for such a facility, Mr. Ball explains.

“We have the large pillars which are several feet wide so they essentially became wall space for us, and there’s overhead shelter, which is a bonus,” he says. “A lot of the secure bike facilities that you see going up, a fairly common request is to have that overhead shelter. We do have cyclists who are coming in December and January and certainly, when we do have rain, it is nice to have that shelter for them.”

Soon to be added to the locker is a repair station which will offer bike tools such as wrenches, Allan keys and a bike pump, for any quick fixes.

Financial support for the project came from Queen’s Hospitality Services on behalf of Coca-Cola and the AMS’ Sustainability Action Fund.

To register or to learn more about the secure bike parking facility, visit the Sustainability Office’s website.