Summer weather and high gas prices are making many UW staff and students rethink the way they commute to campus.

“A lot of people have come in saying, ‘I just pulled my bike out and haven’t used it in ages and need to get it fixed,’” said senior Lauren Boubel, a mechanic at the ASUW Bike Shop.

According to a recent UW Transportation Services survey, an estimated 5,000 bicyclists commute to campus each day during the academic year, an increase of 16 percent since last year.

“[Bicyclists] have found it to be an energizing experience,” said Joshua Kavanagh, director of Transportation Services, who also commutes by bicycle. “[It’s] a great way to either ramp up into the day or unwind at the end of the day.”

According to the 2007 U-PASS Annual Report, the UW provides 740 bicycle racks that can hold as many as 6,100 bicycles. Also, the UW has the largest university bicycle locker program in the United States.

“I have a car, but it’s the price of gas versus the price of foot power,” said Brandan Lasley, a senior who has bicycled to school rain or shine for five years.

During March’s Ride in the Rain Bicycle Challenge, a program that encourages bicycling as a year-round commuting option, an all-time high of 1,100 participants commuted to and from campus by bicycle. Nine percent of participants were first-time bicycle commuters.

The average price of gas in Washington is $4.37 a gallon, making less expensive means of transportation more attractive to students and staff.

“I definitely feel [the gas price],” said Erin Wallace, a summer student in a teacher writing program. “My pay check is going to gas now.”

However, Wallace, like many others, is nervous about the safety concerns of commuting in a traffic-congested city.

“People in Washington are crazy drivers,” Wallace said. “I have friends who bike, and many of them have been hit many times.”

Nonetheless, bicycle sales in Seattle are booming. The ASUW Bike Shop is seeing more customers, many of them complaining of the gas prices.

Operating without profit, the ASUW Bike Shop is the cheapest repair shop in the area, serving UW students and employees exclusively. The weather, gas prices and promotion events play a key role in the success of the Bike Shop.

“There’s a direct correlation between the weather in the morning and how many customers I see a day,” said Steve Henry, a recent UW graduate and a mechanic at the Bike Shop.

Despite the cost increase of the U-PASS, the effects on the number of bike commuters will likely be negligible because a lot of bicyclists also hop onto Metro buses as part of their commute, Kavanagh said.

“A number of cyclists who have the U-PASS like to mix their mode [of transportation],” he said. In 2007, Seattle put forth the Bicycle Master Plan in hopes of tripling the number of bicycle commuters in Seattle and reducing the number of bike accidents by one-third within the next 10 years.

More bicycle facilities and safety measurements will be implemented in Seattle as part of this $240 million project.