How to Make UVM Greener: A Conversation with Abby Bleything
Editor’s Note: Abby Bleything is the sustainable transportation coordinator at UVM, as well as a supervisor for the UVM Bikes! Co-op on campus. She sat down to speak with STVT about her work and to share the goals she has within her role at the University-- all of which align with the values shared at STVT. Abby works to create a greener transportation system with a particular focus to get people out of their cars and more sustainable methods of travel. This transportation umbrella includes biking, walking, and utilizing public transit, all in addition to strategies such as carpooling. This explains her great support and involvement at UVM Bikes!-- including her work to promote the maintenance of the bikes, in addition to helping foster an environment where people can come in and learn more about biking. The conversation between Abby and STVT provides an inside look at current and upcoming projects on the sustainability front at UVM.
STVT: In regards to your work with sustainable transportation on campus, can you give us any updates or changes currently being made to promote the use of greener transportation?
Abby: I oversee all the bike parking on campus and we're constantly trying to provide more and upgrade the bike parking. So there's two types of bike parking probably seen. It's like the Eurex, which are the loops and the slotted racks, which are the older style that we've been trying to replace with the new racks over the past several years. But every time we try to replace them, they still fill up-- which is a good thing! We have a lot of bikers on campus, but we recently proposed to build covered bike parking facilities… We got funded the first round where we did all the research and worked with the Campus Master Planning Committee, the Landscape Advisory Committee, and the different student groups to kind of figure out where they would be needed. So moving forward, we would be able to create a new standard [in regards to the necessity of bike racks]. When we build a building, we're putting this [bike storage area] down as sort of like par for the course. We went through that process and got them to agree to a design and now we're moving into construction.
STVT: What will this new construction look like on campus?
Abby: The long term covered bike shelter will be constructed outside Harris Millis [residence] hall, hopefully serving a lot of the students and Athletic Campus. And then the other short term structure will be put outside of the Davis Center at the side entrance where they're currently COVID testing. Hopefully, the Harris Millis one will be going in this summer. We are on a bit of a hold with the Davis Center one until we figure out how long testing is going to happen. The Davis Center one will be really efficient, I think, because I feel like most students are riding their bikes to the Davis Center and the library.
STVT: More generally, do you have any favorite projects you’ve worked on?
Abby: I think definitely bike share is up there because it’s such a present and transformative project… especially the fact that it will benefit the entire region that has access to the bike share. So that's probably been the most fun and exciting project-- something [to] point to. But there's tons of little projects that we're super proud of that we've been working on too. One is the Green Fleet Procurement Procedure, which requires departments purchasing vehicles to consider the most efficient or alternative fuel vehicles for the job. It’s the first time there's ever been something in place that has departments consider sustainability in their purchases. So we are super excited about that. We rolled out a sustainable transportation module last year and that requires anybody going out to get a parking permit to learn about all the sustainable transportation options on campus that are available to them before they decide to bring a car to campus. That’s a big effort that we're really proud of.
STVT: And future projects you’re looking forward to?
Abby: We're looking to provide a fleet pool for faculty, so instead of every department owning 50 of their own vehicles, maybe we can have 50 vehicles across the departments, thereby decreasing our footprint and then really intensifying our efforts to green the fleet. So making sure there's electric vehicles available, you know, that's a current big lift underway with fleet management [to create] a shared fleet. Similar to this, we have a couple talented interns working on the free bus passes we have, which is an incredible asset. We're really looking at what the future of parking on campus looks like, and we’re working with the campus master planning committee to make sure that our efforts moving forward are supported.
STVT: There are plenty more exciting, ongoing projects on campus in addition those Abby shared for this piece. Teams of passionate individuals continue working every day to make UVM greener, healthier place for the people and the environment. For more updates, stay tuned for further conversation with Abby Bleything. In the meantime, check out the links below for more information!
UVM Office of Sustainability: Office of Sustainability | Office of Sustainability | The University of Vermont (uvm.edu)
UVM Bikes! Official Website: UVM Bikes! - Your campus bike co-op.
UVM Bikes! Facebook Page: UVM Bikes | Facebook
