with poll: University of Michigan named one of country's most bike-friendly universities

In compiling its list, LAB evaluates how a school educates students on bicycling, encourages them to bicycle, plans its transportation strategy and campus design around bicycling and enforces use of bike lanes and other rules.

U-M Director of Parking and Transportation Services Steve Dolen said U-M is grateful for the designation and hinted that plans are in the works to further increase bike-friendliness on campus.

"Our biking program is going to expand given the demand we have seen from the campus community and the impact it can have in helping U-M achieve its goal of reducing its carbon footprint," he said.

U-M announced earlier this year that it plans to start a bike rental program that will offer students hourly and daily rates for bicycle sharing. The school already has a bike repair program in place that takes place every Wednesday. During that program, bike repair experts, tools and bike stands are available to students.

"We have everything one needs to repair their bike,” John Swerdlow, assistant director of recreational sports, said recently.

The bike rental program is part of a recently launched $14 million initiative centered toward making U-M's campus more sustainable.

This year marked U-M's first appearance on the list. The Ann Arbor school, along with rivals Ohio State University and Michigan State University, received a bronze designation from LAB.

Stanford University in California was the only school to receive a platinum designation. Two University of California campuses were placed in the gold category; 14 campuses got silver designations and 18 received bronze designations.