Some students rushing to class may not think twice about parking their bikes against fences, signs, railings and trees, but DOTS is taking steps to curb the practice.

Officials are pushing the use of designated bike racks this semester, though many students said it’s necessary to resort to non-traditional parking because racks located near academic buildings are either nonexistent or fill up quickly. However, the Department of Transportation Services is working to combat the trend by making racks more visible and gaining student input ahead of installing additional racks.

Parking bikes incorrectly not only jeopardizes the security of the bikes, DOTS officials said, but can also create other problems — for example, when students park their bikes on sidewalks and in front of entrances, they block the path for pedestrians, said DOTS Assistant Director Beverly Malone. In addition, locking a bike to a tree for a long period of time can damage or kill the tree.

“The objects students are locking their bikes to are meant to do other things,” Malone said. “The bike is preventing functionality.”

However, students said they have to secure their bikes even if space in a rack is not available.

“A lot of times, the bike racks are too congested, and a pole or fence is just easier,” said junior journalism major Max Grossfeld. “I don’t see how it could be dangerous.”

There are 4,000 bike parking spaces on campus and about 2,000 registered bikes, while most universities provide bike spaces for only about 8 percent of their student populations, Malone said. Other universities with bigger bike programs levy parking fines for student and faculty riders who park their bikes incorrectly, she said. If parking becomes more of a problem on the campus, the university may decide to implement some of the same penalties, she added.

But fining students for securing their property incorrectly seems impractical, junior individual studies major Reby Silverman said.

“Parking fines just aren’t fair for college students,” she said. “If there aren’t enough legal spaces to lock our bikes, students shouldn’t be penalized for locking their bikes in other, more creative places.”

The main reason the university has not cracked down on bike riders is there are a limited number of people who can devote time and energy to walking around the campus handing out fines, Malone said.

However, Grossfeld said, fines would not be an effective means of influencing bikers’ behavior — not every bike on campus is registered, so there’s often no way to identify the owner of one parked incorrectly.

“It’s already hard enough to park a car conveniently on campus without getting fined,” he said. “Why would DOTS ticket bikes parked on trees and poles? It’s not hurting anything.”

Because there are a limited number of spaces near building entrances, the department plans to put in new racks where they’re needed. Officials said they will seek student input and conduct a study to see which areas see the most biker traffic. DOTS has proposed two possibilities for creating additional spots: adding small racks for individual buildings or large communal racks shared by three or four buildings. In the meantime, DOTS officials began posting pictures of incorrectly parked bikes on the BikeUMD Facebook page in the hope of deterring students from parking in unauthorized locations.

Silverman said students have difficulty finding convenient spots, despite resources DOTS offers, such as allowing students to request additional racks and report ones in need of repairs online.

“I would prefer small bike racks for each building,” she said. “Sometimes the big bike racks get too crowded, and I have trouble finding space for my bike.”

However, senior government and politics major Maria Louzon said she hoped DOTS will settle on adding small racks close to each building to ease students’ difficulties.

“I honestly only ride my bike to class when I’m late,” said Louzon. “The last thing I want to do is park it in some communal spot, which would even further delay me.”

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