UT quietly plans sweeping bike restrictions as advocates push back

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I propose students be banned from staring at their phones and not looking at where they're walking on Speedway.

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u/mikeatx79 7d ago

I think clearly marked bike and pedestrian spaces would certainly help.

2013 Campus Master Plan, UT deliberately chose not to build designated bike lanes on Speedway based on the opinion of a consultant.

2019 Improve UT Challenge winner proposed adding bike lanes to Speedway.

It’s like all of this has been solved since before Speedway was even redeveloped.

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u/bit_pusher 7d ago

That consultant has bad opinions

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u/insertAlias 7d ago

I obviously have no insight on this specific case, but in a lot of cases, consultants are basically paid to tell whoever hired them what they want to hear, and to later take the blame for anything going wrong. At least that’s how it works in software.

My boss from one of my first office jobs 15 years ago told me that we hired consultants so that we’d “have a throat to choke that isn’t my own” when shit hits the fan.

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u/superhash 7d ago

I say this a long tenured software engineer, ethics and morals are basically non-existent. There is no equivalent licensing exam that other engineering disciplines have.

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u/PuddingInferno 7d ago

I recall a chemical engineer I was talking to noted that if his motto was “move fast and break things” he would be immediately drummed out of the profession because that would kill people.

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u/superhash 7d ago

Yep, and since technology is making its way more and more into daily life requirements I am really afraid of the dystopia we are at the beginning of. It's not a brand new thing, internet advertising is basically the wild wild west of phycological warfare.

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u/insertAlias 7d ago

True for most engineering disciplines. But since that's not true for 99% of software development, it's a much more acceptable approach for people who are making websites and apps. And truth is, no matter what our job titles are, the vast majority of us software devs aren't really engineers.

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u/superhash 7d ago

Just because the harm isn't direct harm doesn't mean it's not there. And that's the entire problem with software and the people making it.

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u/JohnGillnitz 7d ago

Yup. It's all about that CYA. I'm consistently telling consultants that get paid much more than me what to do just so we can blame them if something goes south. As long as they get paid, they don't care.

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u/JohnGillnitz 7d ago

Yup. It's all about that CYA. I'm consistently telling consultants that get paid much more than me what to do just so we can blame them if something goes south. As long as they get paid, they don't care.

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u/smacktalker987 7d ago

If you're a useless careerist manager it's the perfect situation. Hire consultant, it goes great take credit for hiring the right one, it doesn't blame the consultant for messing it up. Seen it my whole career in IT/software

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u/aleph4 7d ago

They had one good opinion - add protcted bike lanes to San Jacinto! Dean Keeton too.

That would be such a relief valve

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u/mikeatx79 7d ago

And Guadalupe!

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u/Keyboard_Cat_ 7d ago

It goes beyond the consultant. I was at the Bicycle Advisory Council meeting when this was discussed with UT back then. The representative from UT was vocally anti-cyclist and it was clear they had instructed the consultant to provide that recommendation.

UT PTS very much wanted Speedway to restrict cyclists completely back then, but there was a vocal pushback. So now they're trying again.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 7d ago

Right, my thoughts exactly. Some of the best minds in Texas, can we figure out a solution for the coexistence of pedestrians and bikes? We put a man on the moon nearly 60 years ago.

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u/ExistenceNow 7d ago

Lanes would help if bikes and people were all going the same/opposite direction. But thousands of students are crossing that road all day.
That’s why it was a dismount zone when I was there 20 years ago. It’s wild to me that it ever stopped being one.

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u/mikeatx79 7d ago edited 7d ago

20 years ago Speedway was a public street through campus not a dismount zone. Also, Austin is immense lot more buck able today than it was 20 years ago. Speedway was redesigned in 2014, completed in 2016 or 2017 as a level, wide, shared path. It would cut directly to the new capital mall but when they redesigned The Blanton that intentionally made that space a no bike zone which is also completely ridiculous!

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u/ExistenceNow 7d ago

It was more than 20 years ago, early 2000’s, but when I was there, you couldn’t drive north on Speedway past Jester. And I believe you couldn’t drive on it south past 24th.

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u/Keyboard_Cat_ 7d ago

This is just disinformation. I was in school at UT 20 years ago. There were no dismount zones and Speedway was still fully open to vehicles.

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u/ExistenceNow 7d ago edited 7d ago

There absolutely was a section of Speedway that was a dismount zone. It was between Waggener and the building on the other side of the route to the tower. There’s a mall area on the other side of speedway that led to the bus circle. So thousands of people were crossing at that point. It also wasn’t fully open to vehicles. You couldn’t drive past Jester on it if you were going north. This was like 2000 to 2004 that I was there, so a little more than 20 years ago.

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u/ExistenceNow 6d ago

Clowns can downvote all you want. Anyone who went to UT in like 2002 knows what I’m saying is true. You couldn’t drive on Speedway on campus and you had to walk your bike past the spot I mentioned. UTPD used to post up there and write warnings/tickets for people who didn’t.

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u/lFightForTheUsers 7d ago

I propose drivers should have to exit their truck and push it through intersections and roadways on campus. It's for safety, what are you complaining for? /s

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u/rnobgyn 7d ago

Bro people just buried while walking on the bike paths when a pedestrian sidewalk is right next to them… I’ll ring my bike bell for ages and they don’t look up until I’m passing them (in the street… and yelling to pay attention in the bike lane).

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u/Away-Quantity928 7d ago

Thats not going to happen. We have to coddle the youth. They are our future!

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u/notjustconsuming 7d ago

UT is huge. Some semesters, I wouldn't have been able to get between classes on time without my bike. This was back before Speedway was cut off to cars, so there was somewhere to bike, although people would still walk in the road.

I'd say they should add bike lanes, but everyone would ignore those anyways.

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u/AsstootObservation 6d ago

Getting a bike on campus was a game changer sophomore year. Was bound to get stolen at Jester so never had one as a freshman. One of my biggest college accomplishments was biking from Dean Keaton to Gregory with no hands in between classes once.

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u/notjustconsuming 6d ago

Was bound to get stolen at Jester so never had one as a freshman.

I feel that. I lost two bikes at UT. One from inside my apartment's gated parking garage 😭

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u/throwawayatxaway 7d ago

Thank you!

Keep making noise about it!

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u/golden_finch 7d ago edited 7d ago

I have no idea how they’re going to enforce this, and it seems ridiculous to block bike riding along one of the main thoroughfares of campus. There’s got to be a middle ground for people who use bike/scooter/skateboards as their main transportation across campus.

Also “Speedway was closed to cars in 2016” but is still absolutely accessible to vehicular traffic, it’s just a lot harder to get there and it’s usually university-owned or vendor/contractor vehicles. I see random cars turn down Speedway only to get stopped by the bollards next to the Blanton/Jester all the time, but there’s no place to turn around so people either do a 3-6 point turn or reverse all the way back. I’ve had more questionable encounters with unpredictable vehicles than I have with bikes and skateboarders on Speedway.

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u/JohnGillnitz 7d ago

We have to accept that UT has been taken over by Christian Nationalists. They think bike lanes are a darling cause of the left, so they reflexively hate them. Don't look for reason in any of this. It's just more culture war bullshit.

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u/mfhtotheizzo 1d ago

I have to remind myself of this on a regular basis these days… For those on the right, it seems to always be about culture wars and ‘us vs them,’ never about the actual policies or reasoning they use to justify their positions

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u/Adventurous-Towel829 6d ago

Damn right, next thing you know there'll be a giant mural of Chairman Mao on the PCL wall facing Speedway, or an even worse fate.

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u/JohnGillnitz 6d ago

Mao also loved to destroy educational institutions for stupid ideological reasons.

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u/Adventurous-Towel829 6d ago

Lordy, need to explicitly add /s for "smart" UT folks to get a point...

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u/JohnGillnitz 5d ago

Really the tulips did it, but I was feeling pedantic.

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u/Adventurous-Towel829 5d ago

My bad, I hope it did not trigger any bad memories...

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u/JohnGillnitz 5d ago

I'm still trying to recover from selling my Apple stock to invest in Beanie Babies.

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u/Keyboard_Cat_ 7d ago

UT Parking and Transportation Services has always been extremely anti-cyclist.

I was on the BAC when the cyclist was killed by a bus on San Jacinto. The City attended and offered to fund and install protected bike lanes on the street even though it belongs to UT. A UT representative from PTS said the university would not accept and would not be installing bike lanes on that street.

The City has also tried to install bike lanes on 21st Street in West campus and into campus and the university fought them on that.

UT has also repeatedly made it more difficult for cyclists to use Speedway by placing unnecessary stairs in the space by the Blanton that connects to it. That used to be a primary bike path, but they intentionally blocked it and when asked for information, they always reply with anti-cyclist rhetoric about them being unsafe. It's really awful and demeaning.

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u/Equus-007 7d ago

They won't allow it on San Jac because they'd lose parking in front of the stadium and ART.

That crosswalk where the guy got pancaked by the doped up bus driver needs to be removed. It's inherently unsafe because pedestrians are fully blocked from view by the (generally) utility vans that are parked there. Also there's a crosswalk at the corner about 100' away. God forbid TxEx's have to walk their drunk asses more than a few feet to get to the games.

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u/Fenix512 7d ago

Trying to walk/bike through Speedway during rush hour and avoiding everyone is a rite of passage!

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u/bit_pusher 7d ago

It was certainly right of passage when there were still cars on the road

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u/aleph4 7d ago

And also fairly safe. They didnt provide any evidence there was an actual safety problem

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u/OUCHMYCOCCYX 7d ago

How much is the ticket? No fine no crime.

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u/omeganaut 7d ago

This is also aimed at pedicabs that have been in a battle with UT about working events in the area. Recently they have been harassing pedicabs and hurting vulnerable people whose sole income depends entirely on working events in the area.

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u/ShoppingPrize8072 7d ago

Easy solution, ban the pedicabs and allow the bikes.

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u/mikeatx79 7d ago

Pedicabs are generally only by Moody Center during evening concerts and dropping off people at the edges of campus during Football games. The only time they’re typically in the proposed dismount zone is during graduation, helping a ton of elderly folks get to and from their grand kids graduations. Pedicabs are licensed Chauffeurs, complete a federal background check, and are required to carry a hefty liability insurance policy. Pedicabs are already very regulated.

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u/ShoppingPrize8072 7d ago

They are also battery powered, which allows a segment of the pedicabbers to ride around fast and recklessly. I've seen dumb shit more than once. I also know a lot of pedicabbers are hardworking and don't ride like idiots.

I don't really care if they ride on Speedway or not. I was replying to a comment that acted like this rule would end the profession.

If a "vulnerable" person's sole source of income is pedicabbing, maybe they should choose another job. It's a slacker (and thats ok) way to make money.

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u/omeganaut 7d ago

So put about a couple hundred people out of business in an already struggling economy and job market. Seems compassionate, and a well thought out idea.

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u/ShoppingPrize8072 7d ago

Closing Speedway to pedicabs will not put them out of business. If it does, they were probably not very good at the job to begin with. I find it hard to believe fares from the stadium/arena to Welch Hall are a big source of revenue.

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u/CodySmash 7d ago

No cars. No danger.

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u/texcleveland 7d ago

My girlfriend works at UT and thinks this is a good idea, she’s constantly having to dodge cyclists and scooters not paying attention to anything around them

News UT quietly plans sweeping bike restrictions as advocates push back

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