Awareness of Commuter Traffic On-Campus

The traffic on campus is increasing. Truman State University ’s campus is small enough for its residents to walk to class. Students living off-campus, however, find driving to be appealing, especially in colder weather. For some who must travel from the north end of campus to the south, a bicycle is deemed necessary. Combine these three means of transportation with three main crosswalks, and one will quickly find that each system interferes with the others.

According to a statement from the Department of Public Safety (DPS), there are 4,100 registered vehicles at Truman State , and of these cars, 2,616 are student-registered.

Registered bicycles are harder to keep track of. DPS has registered 110 new bicycles this semester alone. However, this does not include the hundreds of bikes that were previously registered, and are still in use on campus.

People who walk the sidewalks are weary of those who ride their bicycles right past their shoulders at high speeds, and worry about whether or not cars will actually stop at crosswalks. Bicyclists have the same fear of cars stopping as pedestrians, while drivers hope that a person doesn’t just step off the curb in front of them, or that a bicyclist doesn’t attempt to fly through a crosswalk without looking.

Senior Nathan Imse commutes to and from class via bicycle.

“Every now and then I’ll be riding my bike and I’ll be on campus and there will be some people that I have to slow down for and announce, you know, ‘Bike on your left,’ and I’ll go on their left,” said Imse.

During the busy times of the day, when many people are walking to and from class, Imse rides on the outside of campus.

“I try to do my best to kind of ride defensively,” said Imse. “Since it’s a slower traffic area, traffic doesn’t go more than 35 mph anyway, they usually aren’t too upset by being behind a bike for, you know, 100 yards.”

Though some find traffic not to be an issue, others have had close calls. Junior Kim Slattery had a close encounter with a car just a few weeks ago.

“I was walking to Ryle for lunch, and I was in the lane of a driver and they didn’t slow down,” said Slattery. “And when they realized I was there they kind of swerved around me. It was really scary.”

Looking past her experience with one driver, Slattery feels comfortable crossing the street.

“I think most of the time they’re courteous,” said Slattery. “I think it’s easy to get confused because pedestrians aren’t always very confident about … when they are going to cross the street … but sometimes I think drivers just really don’t care.”

Junior Brooke Zell commutes to school every day and finds the traffic on campus to be a problem, in a different way.

“Traffic on campus usually isn’t that bad. It just depends,” Said Zell. “In-between classes is just horrible.”

As a driver, Zell sees the masses of people crossing the streets on campus to be the problem. She also see students jay-walking as a big issue.

“I don’t think I ever drive up through campus without someone crossing where there isn’t a crosswalk,” said Zell. “I just let them cross.”

When it comes to cyclists, Zell doesn’t find as much trouble as she does with people walking across the street.

“There’s been a few times that they just dart out in front of you, like they have the right of way,” said Zell. “That’s frustrating.”

For more pictures, click on the following link:

Campus Traffic