UGM launches cycling program

YOGYAKARTA: In its bid to help rid the city of its traffic pollution, Gadjah Mada University last week launched the UGM Bangga Bersepeda program to encourage students and lecturers to use bicycles around campus.

"We realize it would be too much if we asked them to ride bicycles from home to campus. So, instead, we are encouraging students to use bicycles inside the university compound," Center for Tourism Studies head Hendrie Adji Koswara said.

The program, a joint effort of the tourism, environmental studies and transportation centers, was launched with a bike ride from the gates of the Bunderan center to the university's central building. The launch also saw a special track for bikers and pedestrians inaugurated.

The campus' newly established Green Bicycle Community also invited participants to "adopt" used bicycles that the community had repainted green.

An important patron of the event was Sleman Regent Ibnu Subiyanto, who is seeking reelection in the June 26 regional poll. --JP