RANDY METCALF/Arizona Daily Wildcat Officer Chuck Hammel, left, and Officer Jeff Kolb are part of a newly organized UAPD bicycle patrol. The patrol completed training in the opening days of August, and now serves the campus area.

For UA Parking and Transportation Services bike safety officers Jeff Kolb and Chuck Hammel, the new school year brings more than just thousands of students ÷ it brings thousands of students on bicycles.

As the most visible members of the UA Parking and Transportation Services bicycle team, logging an average 25 miles a day on their bikes, the two are charged with keeping students safe on campus while educating them on the general rules of the road.

Given that there are over 9,000 students riding bicycles each day, that can be a monumental task, Hammel said.

"Bike riding has always been perceived as a child's game. But on campus, bicycles are the main mode of transportation, not a toy," he said. "Students need to be aware of the dangers that possibly await them when they jump on their bikes."

PTS officers can easily be lost in the crowd of pedestrians and bike riders bustling between classes. But they make themselves known when they see people disobeying bicycle laws.

"We're nice to people out here, even when they're doing something wrong," Kolb said. "But the basic message is that you need to be careful when riding. There are many things out here that can be dangerous."

One of the most scrutinized spots on campus is the Olive Street Tunnel, which is used by students passing underneath East Speedway Boulevard.

Hammel, who has been on the PTS team for six years, estimates that 5,000 students use the tunnel every day when walking between the Eller School of Business and Public Administration, the Park Avenue Garage, and the rest of the campus.

Although five signs are posted to inform users to walk their bikes, Hammel said he sees bicyclists riding among pedestrians every day.

"We've tried for years to allow bike riding down here, but there's just no way that it would be possible," he said. "There are a number of blind spots that can be dangerous."

The two said they spend much of their time at the ends of the tunnel, sometimes up to two hours, because there are so many bicyclists disobeying the rules and putting others in danger.

While the fine for riding a bike in a pedestrian-only area is just $25, the cost of an accident can be immeasurable.

Years ago in the Olive Tunnel a bicyclist killed a UA professor as he was walking away from the Architecture building. Following his death, the UA Risk Management Department decided to make the tunnel a walk-only area.

The story has become an educational tool for Hammel.

"When people get mad at me for stopping them, I just tell them that story," he said. "They usually get the message after that."

Education is the main reason for the existence of a bike patrol program, said PTS Associate Director Gary Thomson.

"They can write citations to bicyclists and they do, but that is not our primary mission," he said. "For those who are not operating their bicycles properly, we feel that it is better to educate them than to cite them."

With one of the largest campus bicycle communities, the fifth largest in the country according to Thomson, establishing bicycle safety becomes even more important.

"Some of these students are just so young and they don't know the rules," Kolb said. "Foreign students have trouble when they get here because they just don't know the rules. Of course that's the same with most students."

Kolb, who has worked as a PTS bike safety officer for two years, said the most common violation is bicyclists riding on sidewalks.

"Riding on the sidewalk is against the law in the city of Tucson, no matter what," he said.

Hammel simplified it even further.

"If it looks like a sidewalk, it must be a sidewalk."

Hammel and Kolb also said that the new Student Union Memorial Center has been an area of much congestion, and daily safety violations. Between pedestrians walking out into bike lanes and bicyclists riding on the sidewalks, the SUMC is a haven for accidents.

"It's amazing that they haven't hurt anybody thus far," he said. "With all the entries to the union, people need to be careful."

One student, undeclared freshman Randi Dudugijan, got a little education outside of the classroom when she was stopped for walking in a bike lane.

Dudugijan, on her first day of class, was oblivious to the fact that she was making herself a target for an accident. She was, however, appreciative of the safety tip and vowed to be a little more careful next time.

"I think that what they're doing is really great," she said of Hammel and Kolb. "I know that there have been a lot of accidents involving bikes and cars in the past years. Most people don't know the rules when they're on the street, around buildings or in the back alleys on campus."

One of the other programs that PTS has been pushing for years is bicycle registration. Hammel and Kolb have been registering bikes on the UA Mall for the past week, hoping to provide students an opportunity to reclaim their bikes in case they are stolen.

If a stolen bike is recovered and it has been registered with PTS, there is nearly a 100 percent chance that it will be returned to the student if they can be located, Thomson said.

"I would think that if you're riding a bicycle on campus, you've put an investment into that particular item and usually that would be your primary means of transportation," he said. "If it was stolen, the chances of it being returned after it is stolen and returned to the person would be very slim."

While registering bicycles, Kolb said he noticed some students were clueless as to how and where to lock their bikes up.

"We have about 9,800 spots to lock bikes up properly, and they are not difficult to find," Kolb said.

Kolb added that he and Hammel often find bikes locked to trees and railings, which he says is both unsafe and illegal. When they find bikes locked illegally, PTS officers use a device that makes it impossible to remove the bikes until the student contacts the department.

Despite their authoritative presence on campus, Kolb and Hammel said they try to keep things light when it comes to educating people on campus.

"We get cussed out from time to time, but (the students) are usually very nice and appreciate the help," Hammel said.