Sacramento State students and faculty are encouraged to ride their bicycles on campus, but the campus police wants them to know that riding bikes in the inner walkways of campus is prohibited due to safety concerns.

“What we are trying to do is to get the message out,” Corporal Jeff Solomon said. “Being on a bike, I’ve seen numerous close calls where the cyclists or skaters are going too fast.”

The bike lanes on campus are on the outer roads that surround the university. Although violators who ride inside the campus walkways are subject to a citation, Solomon says he rarely gives out any tickets.

“99.9 percent of the time we just let them go with a warning,” Solomon said. “Our main mission is to get out the word that we don’t want people riding their bikes where it’s prohibited.”

There are signs posted to indicate where the bike lanes start on campus and a map of bike lane locations is available online.

“I didn’t know that we would get ticketed for riding our bikes in the campus,” Anthony Bertacchi, sophomore communications major, said. “But I’ve seen the new signs up where I didn’t see last year.”

In order to bring more awareness to the rules and regulations regarding the use of bicycles on campus, Bertacchi said professors and faculty members should inform their students.

“If the rules are in magazines and paper, people may not read them,” he said. “But if teachers tell the students, more people would know.”

In the five years that he has been at Sac State, Solomon said he has written less than five citations for bicycle rule violation. “It’s a big win for us when we can educate people because we don’t want to give tickets.”

Still, students such as Madison Shepard, senior business major and Peak Adventures staff member, say no one should be cited.”It’s a mode of transportation and I feel that there is wide enough roads that people can ride their bikes on campus,” Shepard said. “If Sacramento is trying to make this a bike community, then we should be able to ride our bikes on campus.”

However, Shepard says she agrees that safety is an issue when it comes to riding bikes on campus. “It’s definitely crowded as far as people walking around and they don’t stop when bikers are coming,” she said.

“But I think the cyclists have the common sense to stop or slow or go around people.”

Solomon says he encourages more students to ride their bikes because they are environmentally friendly and good for health. The main goal for the field officers is to educate the cyclists and prevent accidents.

“Just obey the law and know the area(s) that are prohibited, and ride safely,” Solomon said. “It is our number one goal that everyone is safe out there.”

Miyu Kataoka can be reached at [email protected].