July 11, 1994 Contact: Robert Irion (408/459-2495)

UC SANTA CRUZ PROFESSOR TO RECEIVE "VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR" AWARD FROM NATIONAL BICYCLING SOCIETY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Kevin Karplus, his last name notwithstanding, does not drive a car, nor has he ever possessed a driver's license. This computer scientist has had one modus transporandi for the last 23 years: the bicycle. But you won't see him winning races or tearing up off-road trails. Rather, Karplus devotes his energy to cycling from Point A to Point B on streets and bike paths--and to making it easier and safer for others to do the same.

In fact, Karplus has done so much for cyclists in Santa Cruz County that the League of American Bicyclists, a national society, will honor him next week with its "Phyllis W. Harmon Volunteer of the Year" award. Karplus had planned to bike to a rally in San Diego to receive the award, but the rally was canceled; instead, the league will recognize him from a distance during its meeting in Salisbury, Maryland, July 21-24.

"This is a small reward for years of sitting in boring government meetings, arguing for better bike facilities, better bike education, and so forth," says Karplus, an associate professor of computer engineering at UC Santa Cruz. "More rewarding have been the various successes along the way."

For instance, local motorists may notice a growing number of bike lanes on busy streets and bicycle sensors at stoplights--due in no small part to years of hard work by Karplus and others on the bicycle committee of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission. The Watsonville Police Department presented bicycle- safety information and a bilingual flyer prepared by Karplus to students in all of Watsonville's public schools. A bike-education video and curriculum went out to all fourth-grade teachers in the county, thanks to Karplus and the rest of the Santa Cruz Community Traffic Safety Coalition. Political activism by People Power, with Karplus as a former member of the steering committee, led to positive changes for bicycles in the Vision Santa Cruz plans for revitalizing downtown. The list goes on. Such efforts always involve many people; Karplus, it seems, is always one of them.

He is quick to note that cooperative leaders in the area have fostered many of these changes. "Santa Cruz at the moment has the most bike-friendly government I've seen," he says. "The City Council in particular has been very friendly toward bikes, and the latest general plan has excellent bicycle provisions," such as short-term parking and bike lockers for commuters. Indeed, Karplus was so impressed with a new city bike-parking ordinance--passed primarily because of the efforts of bicycle activist Ron Goodman of People Power--that he posted the text on the Internet computer network for cyclists around the world to read.

"Local jurisdictions have been putting a fair percentage of their federal transportation funds into bike projects," Karplus adds. "That tells me a lot more about the commitment to making the infrastructure work for bicyclists than any policy statement."

Despite such progress, Karplus sees a need for better and more widespread bike education, both for cyclists and drivers. The Department of Motor Vehicles now shows a video on sharing the road with bicycles to its driver-education classes, he notes. But to effect real change, he says, young cyclists need to learn safe and courteous habits early in life, both for their own protection and to create a generation of bicycle riders who obey traffic laws.

"There are people who are vehemently opposed to bicyclists, and there are some bicyclists who do what they can to justify that image," Karplus says. "Other bicyclists need to get more angry at those who disobey the rules." Ticketing by police officers is surprisingly effective, he observes: "People are more afraid of getting a ticket than of being killed in an accident."

Karplus traces his own interest in cycling to teenage nonconformity. "Mom really wanted me to drive," he admits. He got a learner's permit but never a driver's license, deciding that at least half the people he saw on the road shouldn't be there. Environmental and financial reasons entered the picture later in life, as did the exercise factor: "I hate to exercise," he says. "If I didn't ride up to campus every day, I probably wouldn't get enough."

Karplus has never had a serious bicycling injury, although he once went flying into a car and shattered its windshield when the car turned in front of him. Occasionally, he draws stares when he transports large items in his bicycle trailer, such as a four-drawer file cabinet and, on one occasion, a low-flow toilet.

Being able to ride to work and around town year-round was a big draw when Karplus came to UCSC from Cornell University in 1986. Since then, friends have carried items for him in private motor vehicles just twice: once when he moved, and again recently when he bought a new recumbent bicycle in Berkeley and had to get it back to Santa Cruz. Otherwise, he takes the city bus a few times each year, occasionally rides in cars "to be sociable," and walks a lot with his wife. "Friends say that I'll be forced to get a car if we have a child," he says. "But I'm not even convinced of that."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Karplus returned a few days ago from a bicycle trip to Los Angeles down Highway 1 with his father. You may reach him at UCSC via email at karplus@ce.ucsc.edu or by phone at (408) 459- 4250.

This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial (209) 244-6971.

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