Growing up in Paris, Texas, Suzi Rumohr (library, Denton) would take bicycle rides along country roads with her family. While she enjoyed the views of pastures, the smell of springtime and the quiet, she was never serious about riding bikes.

That would come later.

When she came to Denton to attend the University of North Texas, Rumohr brought her bike to speed up travel from class to class.

“When I moved off campus,” she says, “I continued using it to travel to campus because I didn’t want to spend the money or time on parking my car. Biking to campus was simply more practical — both money-wise and time-wise — than driving to campus.

“That’s why, after coming (to work at) TWU in 2014, I’ve continued to choose my bike instead of my car,” she added.

Biking at TWU

Rumohr says the biking community at TWU is small, with fewer than a dozen faculty/staff and only a handful of students who bike to campus.

“When I talk with people who want to bike to campus but don’t, the first thing they tell me is they don’t feel safe doing it,” she said. “TWU is surrounded by roads that are scary to bike along or across: University/380, Locust/Elm, Mingo, and Bell. Except for a small portion of Bell, none of these roads have bicycle accommodations.”

She added that many students, faculty and staff live less than a 15-minute bike ride from campus, “but they don’t have safe routes available to get there.”

One might think the scorching summer temperatures also play a role in driving vs. biking, but Rumohr says road safety — not heat — is the number one concern she hears from people when it comes to using a bicycle for short trips.

“TWU is only a 7- to 9-minute ride from my house, which is about how long it takes me to walk from my car when I drive to campus, so it winds up being the same amount of heat exposure,” she added. She wears shorts and a T-shirt while commuting, then changes into work clothes after arriving on campus.

Getting involved

Rumohr said she was casually supporting the effort to make Denton more walkable and bikeable in 2016 and 2017 after the city hired its first bicycle and pedestrian coordinator. Attending a public meeting regarding the design of a bike lane for two blocks of West Hickory Street in the Fry Street area inspired her to get more involved.

The city had already installed a bike lane on West Hickory Street from Bonnie Brae to Carroll Boulevard, except for two blocks in the Fry Street area. In 2017, the city began a project to complete the final two blocks of bike lane to create a continuous bike lane.

Rumohr said bicycle infrastructure gets much more use when it’s connected, direct and safe. When it’s unsafe, meanders or randomly dead-ends in dangerous locations, she added, fewer people feel comfortable using it and will either choose another route or drive instead.

“Some of the design options presented by city staff were indirect, unsafe, or didn’t match the general design of the rest of the West Hickory Street bike lanes, making them unpredictable for riders and drivers alike,” she said. “What inspired me to get involved was seeing that without the involvement of me and other people who get around by bicycle, the city might choose a design option that is either inconvenient or unsafe for people on bikes.”

Getting results

Thanks to the efforts of Rumohr and others, the city installed a vertically protected bike lane for the two blocks of West Hickory Street between Avenue B and Welch Street.

“Bike lanes with a vertical barrier to keep cars out of them make people feel safe enough to use them, unlike a simple painted bike lane that’s often blocked by parked cars,” she said. “If the city can continue to expand protected infrastructure such as this, more people will be able to save money and be more physically active by biking instead of driving for some of their shorter trips.”

Other involvement

In addition to her involvement with Bike Denton, a program aimed at making active transportation safer and more accessible, Rumohr also participates in Keep Denton Beautiful litter cleanups. She also has volunteered with the Texas Stream Team to monitor water quality of streams around Denton.

“If something involves making Denton cleaner, healthier, more affordable or more connected, you may very well find me involved,” she said.

How and why to follow your passion

Rumohr offers the following advice to those who are passionate about an issue but are hesitant or don’t know how to get involved:

• Find like-minded people. Do a little searching to see if there are any local groups interested in that issue. You can learn how to get involved and affect change more quickly if you can connect with people who have already been involved.
• The pandemic is making many things challenging, but once cities start having in-person public meetings, attend them, if possible. It’s another way to find like-minded people and to learn more about how the city works. Networking with others is very helpful for getting involved. (Meanwhile, many cities currently are using teleconferencing or video-streaming services to make council and other meetings accessible to residents. It’s one way to learn more about how the city works.
• Keep an open mind and keep learning more about the issue you’re passionate about. If you care about ending homelessness, for example, what methods does research indicate are proven to prevent or reduce homelessness? Sometimes what we think would be effective is the opposite of what the research shows, so always be open to having your mind changed about what works and what doesn’t.

“The direction of a community is based on who shows up,” Rumohr said. “It’s based on who runs for city council; who volunteers for city committees and commissions; who reaches out to the city council about issues; and who shows up to vote in local elections.

“Being involved in your community helps you feel more connected with your neighbors and builds a sense of pride in the place where you live,” she added. “At the end of the day, if you see a problem in your community, ask yourself: What is the next small step I can take toward making it better?.”

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By Karen Garcia
Marketing & Communication
kgarcia@twu.edu