The Share the Road initiative was started at Ohio State by the Office of Administration and Planning and the Office of Student Life to make sure the university was putting money towards traffic safety. Credit: Becca Duncan | Lantern Reporter
The next time a Buckeye forgets to look up while crossing the street, Ohio State’s Share the Road initiative decals will remind them.
According to the Share the Road website, the educational initiative promotes safe behaviors when walking, biking, scooting or driving around campus. Through OSUGo text message alerts about major travel impacts and access to construction maps, the initiative works to ensure all Buckeyes share the road safely.
Share the Road was started by the Office of Administration and Planning and the Office of Student Life to make sure the university was putting money towards traffic safety, university spokesperson Dan Hedman said.
“We put sidewalk decals down to remind people, ‘Oh, yeah. I’m supposed to look up,’ ” Hedman said. “We put them right next to busy intersections to remind people and eliminate distractions.”
Hedman said it is crucial that students practice safe behaviors because Ohio State is a multimodal campus.
“There’s pedestrians, bikes, scooters, buses and cars,” Hedman said. “It’s different than being in a regular town.”
Nicole Holman, assistant director of marketing and communication for the Office of Administration and Planning, said Share the Road aims to get its message to students in any way it can, such as a sidewalk chalk art competition held outside the Wexner Center for the Arts Sept. 9.
“We wanted a new way to get people to participate and think about traffic safety differently,” Holman said.
Despite all of the reminders and events from the campaign, Holman said students should maintain awareness of their surroundings and practice safe traveling.
“We’re trying to make sure people are keeping their heads up, their earbuds out and just really thinking about how we can all travel safely as Buckeyes,” Holman said.
