By: Bailey Elise McBride

At 1:45 Thursday afternoon, the theater in the Arkansas Union was empty except for Andy Gilbride.

Dressed in a full suit, Gilbride paced back and forth across the stage, perspiration beginning to build on his forehead.

A Union employee stepped onto the stage, bringing chairs and a table.

“How are you doing today?” Gilbride asked.

“Probably a lot better than you,” the man replied. “Are you expecting a lot of controversy here?”

Gilbride laughed nervously. “Yeah, yeah we are.”

After the huge outcry last spring against a policy that would require bicyclists to register their bikes and pay a one-time $15 fee, Transit and Parking Department members like Gilbride are struggling to find a way to implement their policy and still keep the students happy.

By 2:10 Thursday, the theater was half full, and not just with UA students filling the seats – Fayetteville residents, young and old, showed up to voice their concerns about the TPD’s supposed lack of consideration of the community surrounding the campus. Even one of the City Council members, Matthew Petty, came to express concerns that the department is not considering the efforts that Fayetteville has made, such as adding bike trails, to improve the city for cyclists.

For the TPD to receive student opinion on the matter, the Associated Student Government arranged a one-hour forum Thursday with TPD Director Gary Smith to inform students of the details of the policy and hear their questions.

Smith and other parking officials were so concerned about the student outrage at the meeting that they had a police escort as they arrived. Whisperings of an “angry mob” floated through the air as the parking officials took their seats before Smith’s initial presentation of the policy and its history.

“Basically, if you’re going to park your bike on campus, it needs to have a permit,” Smith said. “It’s as simple as that.”

During the two-day registration period for bicycles last month at the Arkansas Union, Billy Fleming, ASG director of sustainability, said he received more than 150 e-mails from concerned students who wanted to know what the ASG would do about the issue, as well as how they could get involved.

“Students just need to contact me so that we can start organizing groups,” Fleming said. “It’s great to protest and hold signs, but it’s more important to keep our seats on those committees that make decisions for us.”

Fleming encourages concerned students to continue contacting him so they can stay updated on the issue, he said.

The first question posed at the Thursday forum came from senior Jacob Holloway, an agricultural economics major. He asked Smith if the policy was going to be a “red herring,” and requested a guarantee that the department would not change its mind about charging for bike permits after students begin to comply with the policy.

“I’ve been on campus 22 years in the department, so I know better than to guarantee you we’re never going to charge,” Smith said in response.

He also added, however, that he does not foresee a charge in the next five years.

One of the biggest problems for the TPD, Smith said, is that there is no estimate of how many bicycles are on campus on a given day; therefore, there is no way to accurately measure whether the 527 parking spots currently available are sufficient.

Another problem is the lack of money for more bike racks, which cost nearly $300 a piece.

Students have voiced numerous concerns about the policy, some regarding how it would affect the aesthetics of their bikes to some concerned with the university’s commitment to sustainability.

“No offense, but I paid way too much money for my bike to want to put some registration sticker on it,” junior Abbie Weaver said.

Her statement is reflective of the views of many students: Affixing a permanent sticker to a bike would devalue its expensive frame.

Some students have been critical of the policy because they believe it goes against the Climate Action Plan of the UA, supported by Chancellor G. David Gearhart, which urges a less pro-vehicle stance and even suggests that money the UA saves through energy conservation could go toward promoting bicycle transportation and boosting the Razorbikes program, which allows students access to nearly 50 free bikes across campus.

“Some people can’t afford to pay for a parking permit that costs almost $500, and in some cases can’t even afford a car,” sophomore Katie Rowan said. “This policy is punishing people for using a cheaper and more Earth-friendly alternative to driving.”

On the 30-member TPD Committee, usually two students are involved at most. Fleming said that though he understands the benefits to bike registration, he doesn’t “appreciate the way (the policy) played out and the lack of student input in the process.”

Another concern of some students is the policy’s ban on removing parts of their bicycles when they go into class. Many students remove either a wheel or the seat from their bicycle to prevent it from being stolen when they leave it on campus.

According to the new policy, however, abandoned bicycles – meaning bikes that are habitually left unsecured or missing major components such as handlebars or pedals – will be impounded for 60 days and disposed, if not retrieved by their owners.

Many students spoke out against the policy when the first draft was released in the spring, and more than 1,100 people have joined the Facebook group, “U of A Students Against Bicycle Parking Fees On Campus.”

“They tried to charge students who ride bikes $15 for a permit when they only charge $6 for scooters,” Rowan said. “That doesn’t make any sense – scooters are way bigger and go against the whole sustainability mission of the university.”

The policy originated last spring after numerous departments, including Housing, complained that bikes were parked in unacceptable locations and were blocking handicapped ramps and killing trees.

The policy has since gone through five drafts, and the final policy was written and approved this summer while many students were away from campus.

“The point is, like it or not, they’re going to run it like a business,” Fleming said. “The biggest thing is for us not to let the TPD do this again – the students have a right to be mad.”