In 1984, the state of North Carolina gave NC State University over 700 acres at a site south of Western Boulevard to allow the university to expand. The development of Centennial began in earnest around 2000 and it has become home to the College of Textiles, the College of Engineering, as well as a number of private partners of NC State. The distance between Hunt Library and DH Hill is roughly 1.5 miles as the crow files, a distance that would seem ideal for biking. Thousands of students move between Centennial and Main campus every day, often very stressed about crowded or untimely buses. Is biking a viable alternative now? Could it be one in the future?
How does our situation compare with that of Duke, which has an East Campus and a West Campus? (Are there other schools that could serve as points of comparison?)
Some basic stats:
Registration and Records provided the following data for Wednesday classes:
Monday through Thursday, based on schedules, roughly 3,000 students have to move between Centennial and Main. On Fridays, the number falls to roughly 500.
Amount of time between last class on main and first class on centennial
179 / 3,350 (5.3%) have 30 minutes or less
339 / 3,350 (10.1%) have 1 hour or less
478 / 3,350 (14.3%) have 1.5 hours or less
Amount of time between last class on centennial and first class on main
312 / 3,350 (9.3%) have 30 minutes or less
473 / 3,350 (14.1%) have 1 hour or less
662 / 3,350 (19.8%) have 1.5 hours or less
The Centennial-Main link is a source of stress for students and also inefficiency, with the poor connections making it difficult for students to schedule back-to-back courses on the two campuses. What is the current state of biking between the two locations? Could something be done to make it more attractive to students.
Here is a blog post by Cameron Zamot on this subject.
Here are what I believe are the two main bikeable routes between the two campuses.
–From Centennial to DH Hill by Bilyeu/Hillsborough (map) (Video)
–From DH Hill to Centennial by Varsity Drive (map). (Video)
(Are there others?).
What are the factors that make these routes attractive/unattractive for students to bike?
Use the data from the bike count as part of your analysis.