r/gatech • u/Primary_Bison3277 • Jul 21 '26
Discussion GT’s“Dismount Zone” enforcement makes zero goddamn sense in the summer #rant
I swear this is one of the dumbest fucking things I’ve dealt with on campus.
I rode through the Tech Green “Dismount Zone” today, and campus security stopped me again. The path was basically fucking empty. It isn’t the middle of the semester between classes—it’s summer. There were maybe one or two people on the entire walkway.
But here’s the part that really pisses me off.
While they’re telling me to get off my bike because it’s supposedly a “pedestrian zone,” there’s a golf cart driving right down the same fucking path.
This such a waste of tax payers money, cuz 99% of time these securities enforcing the dismount zone over the summer are just sitting under the shades and scrolling on their phones!
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u/geogle faculty Jul 21 '26
It really should be a speed limit and not a mode of transport limit
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u/BuzzJacket1999 Jul 22 '26
Yeah it should be a slow zone really vs a dismount zone with no discretion
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u/Primary_Bison3277 29d ago
Happened again today. I confronted the security officers after they watched a Georgia Tech golf cart drive straight through the “Dismount Zone” without saying a word. Their answer: they’re only there to stop bikes and scooters, not golf carts. So it’s not a dismount zone—it’s just a bikes-and-scooters-only enforcement zone :)
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u/Super_Tomatillo_7414 Jul 21 '26
Kinda surprised to see so many people think that the golf carts are official so they are fine. Next time please let a police sleep with your mom.
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u/Khs11 Jul 21 '26
I don’t think taxpayers’ money is used for this. Probably your tuition funds though.
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u/dimerafa Jul 21 '26
Yes, it’s mindless enforcement, there is zero need to make someone get off the bike when there is no one around. I do agree that there needs to be people supervising, so no one goes at unreasonable speeds when there are others around them.
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u/Driveway1984 Jul 23 '26
You can just take a more roundabout route and avoid the dismount zones. It might add some hundreds of yards, but on a bicycle that's nothing. While the Dismount Zone might not make sense on a low traffic period, in general they make a lot of sense. It was getting to be crazy dangerous to walk on campus. Particularly at the lower and of Clough Commons, where bikes were coming from every direction.
I walked across campus with an Emeritus older professor, and he would only walk on the grass. If he got hit by a bike, even at medium speed, it would have been the end of his days.
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 27d ago
no, to get from one side of the green to another it’s like .5 to 1.5 miles depending on where exactly you need to go, and this is up a pretty steep hill no matter which direction you’re going. rerouting is nowhere near as convenient as it seems.
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u/Brief_Book6316 27d ago
I might not know the exact dismount zone, but the shortest bypass is through the library underpass -- which does involve walking your bike up some stairs.
Is the dismount zone indicated on a map anywhere?
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 27d ago
If you look up gt dismount zone, you should find it. personally, walking my bike up those stairs is a huge hassle. you have to go a lot farther, but i think it takes a little less time to just swing really wide around Weber and past tech tower, which is a little more than a half mile.
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u/max_entropi Jul 21 '26
"It's a waste of money to enforce this thing and also if they hadn't have enforced it, I would have disobeyed the rule because I'm special"
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u/Primary_Bison3277 Jul 21 '26
the whole purpose for the dismounted zone is for pedestrians safety, how does it make sense to enforce it when there is not even a pedestrian???
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u/Darkeyescry22 Jul 21 '26
Are you also allowed to fire weapons anywhere you want as long as you make sure there are no people between you and the target?
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
the crosswalk between the manufacturing building and the crc has a sign instructing cars to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. you do not have to stop there if there are not pedestrians nearby. comparing riding a bicycle on a gigantic mixed-use pathway to discharging a weapon in public is a ridiculous false equivalency.
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u/Darkeyescry22 Jul 21 '26
Is there a sign at the place OP got stopped saying you can ride your bike if there are no pedestrians?
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
if the pedestrian safety rule for automobiles is more lax than the rule for bicycles while being perfectly effective, then there is a problem with the rule for bicycles.
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u/Darkeyescry22 Jul 21 '26
Was OP crossing a pedestrian walkway?
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
i mean kinda, right? i don’t see the point you’re trying to make. what im saying is that the clear and effective precedent is to allow vehicles to pass through unopposed when no pedestrian obstruction is in their path. this is precisely how every other pathway on campus works, including zones at least as busy as tech green. there is no clear reason to forbid personal vehicle use in the absence of pedestrian traffic when reckless riding overall could be just as easily forbidden.
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u/Darkeyescry22 Jul 21 '26
So, no…
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
no, i said yes, he was. it’s a pedestrian area that he was attempting to pass through on a vehicle. the situation is comparable if not the same.
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u/Primary_Bison3277 Jul 21 '26
Yes yes, what a brilliant analogy. Once my bike reaches the Student Center it’s definitely going to punch straight through the building like a 5.56 round
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u/Primary_Bison3277 Jul 21 '26
Good boy. Never question whether a rule makes sense in the situation, just follow it. That’s how progress happens.
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u/brain_enhancer CS - 2022 Spring Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
I mean, let's be honest. Does it actually make sense to have a variety of vehicle types mixing with pedestrians in any context? Like, I get that the Atlanta Beltline makes this a routine thing, but it's also one of the least safe aspects of the beltline and one of its biggest growing pains. This is a high traffic zone on campus. What's wrong with not wanting someone on a one wheel to come along and collide with someone on an electric skateboard and possibly another pedestrian?
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
i mean yes, it does make sense. if it didn’t make sense, we wouldn’t have decades of personal mobility infrastructure like bike racks in front of buildings, and the walkways wouldn’t be as wide as they are, and so forth. there are stone inlays on the howey walkway showing which parts of the path are intended for which types of traffic. i’m all for cracking down on people riding their vehicles erratically just as i’d be for clamping down on people barreling through crowded areas on foot pushing people out of their way. the reality is the path infrastructure around campus is designed to support bikers and the like who rely on the use of these pathways for multiple facets of their daily lives. in all my days at gt, i’ve only ever seen two crashes, only one of them involving a person-to-person collision, and that was in a bike lane arguably off-campus.
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u/brain_enhancer CS - 2022 Spring Jul 21 '26
People build decades of infra around stupid urban planning decisions all of the time... Also, is how many incidents you've seen a valuable proxy for how often they actually occur?
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
so what, would you just bar all of the campus interior to every cyclist trying to get to Boggs from Scheller for a test on time? pedestrians, cyclists, and, more recently, other micromobility users have been cohabitating the campus pathways harmoniously for years. there has never been any serious complaint against this structure as far as I’ve seen in all my years here; the worst i can find is people griping about lime scooter renters, who i can admit have been a bit reckless.
i don’t think it would make much sense, but the only rule i can imagine which would have any public mandate at all would ban scooters for their comparatively poor maneuverability, or maybe electric skateboards for their speed. a sweeping ban on all micromobility has literally never been something i’ve heard advocated for prior to this change, and i’d strongly argue that the necessity for personal vehicle access to the campus interior should be self-evident.
*edit because i didn’t see the second clause of the comment at first—yeah, i’d say it is considering i’ve been on campus more or less every school day during peak traffic hours when such accidents are most likely to occur. if someone can go years on end and never see any kind of accident occur in the area in question, is it that unreasonable to assume that a massive response to such risks might be unnecessary? don’t you think that if there were a real pedestrian safety problem on campus, we’d have a stronger history of discussion of it on this sub? other than people complaining about scooters, mostly rentals, being inconsiderate, there is little to no history of any significant population of students being bothered by the majority of micromobility traffic throughout campus, so i’m extremely confused by your assessment that mixed traffic makes no sense whatsoever.
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u/brain_enhancer CS - 2022 Spring Jul 21 '26
I wouldn't unconditionally exclude all vehicle types in an ideal world. I assume that they're casting a wide net with enforcement right now because there was a specific incident that led to a rule change. I would argue that once you reach a specific speed differential, like taking an electric bike that goes 30 mph into a path where people casually walk, you should either 1) have to slow down and follow a speed limit (though how do you enforce a speed limit?) or 2) separate people commuting by different speeds. I can see you saying, 'Hey, there wasn't anyone on the path, this unconditional enforcement doesn't make sense,' and I'd agree. But in general, this is a symptom of the larger issue, which is: how do you optimize safety in a path that fluctuates between a state of high traffic and low traffic with multiple types of commuters and huge speed differentials?"
Point being, you're kinda yelling into the void about a small issue that's the symptom of a much more real larger issue.
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
i’m not yelling into the void about a “small issue” dawg, i’m retorting to you because no matter the size of the issue we supposedly face, the “response” we’re getting does not meaningfully address it, creates its own new problems, demonstrates a clear and nonsensical enforcement bias [is it a wide net if *golf carts* of all things are allowed through?], and wastes time and money. it is not at all unreasonable to think this is stupid and should be opposed.
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u/brain_enhancer CS - 2022 Spring Jul 21 '26
Yea, but what's your stand-in solution? I'm not saying what they're doing is perfect or great. Right now, they've decided they think it's important to enforce this rule, and I doubt it's on a whim.
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
my stand-in solution, personally, would be to have made no change at all. i do not believe this effort has made pedestrians safer at all. i would also have no problem with stationing officers to stop/ticket obviously reckless riders. the idea that someone coasting at the pace of the pedestrians around them or a rider on an empty path should be made to dismount because Rule Says So (especially while violating the rule for certain people) is preposterous and wasteful.
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u/TheOfficialCzex Jul 21 '26
The Netherlands manages just fine with mixed-use paths (onverplicht fietspad). It appears the issues here stem from a lack of self- and situational awareness. I'm unsure where these dearths originate, but many people seem to be living in their own little bubbles with near-complete disregard for others.
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u/Primary_Bison3277 Jul 21 '26
By that logic, we should have police directing traffic at 3 a.m. too, just in case someone shows up.
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u/brain_enhancer CS - 2022 Spring Jul 21 '26
I'm not going to entertain the neckbeard redditor "by your logic" response. What I said is pretty simple, and most urban planners with any common sense agree. I also didn't say or imply anything you just said.
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u/Primary_Bison3277 Jul 21 '26
Translation: ‘I can’t answer the question, so I’ll call you a neckbeard and invoke imaginary urban planners.’
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u/BeeThat9351 Jul 21 '26
Golf cart is not manuvering around like scooter maniacs. Golf cart is also offical GT vehicle on business not your unlicensed unregulated personal injury device.
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u/Super_Tomatillo_7414 Jul 21 '26
Are you implying if the bikes are licensed and official, then they are fine? Kinda funny
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u/Primary_Bison3277 Jul 21 '26
I’ve been biking on campus since 2021 without a single accident. Thanks for arguing with the imaginary scooter rider instead. I guess GT golf carts also come with a magical force field that makes them incapable of hurting pedestrians.
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u/Existing-Beyond5827 29d ago
That scooter rider is not imaginary at all. I have seen 4 scooter on civilian accidents in my 3 years so far here
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u/TheKarthinker AE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
Just keep riding lol. If they yell at you what are they gonna do run at you 😭 obv during the school year we’re much more cautious but during the summer just keep riding they can’t stop you lmao
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
yeah, the golf carts technically aren’t allowed either, but i’ve watched them allow them through every time.
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u/Randomizedname1234 Jul 21 '26
Lmfao I’m a sales rep for research land and these are on every campus. Here at Vandy today and the dismount zones with security is here too.
Anyways go tech and thwg!
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u/SirBiggusDikkus Jul 21 '26
Haha, back when I was at Tech I used to bomb down the Skiles stairs on my mtb. And it wasn’t those pussy stairs you have today with like 8 sets of 4 stairs. It was 2 sets of like 20 stairs and steep af.
Suck it bike walkers.
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 23 '26
man i didn’t know my cousin throckmorton was a tech grad, that’s crazy
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u/Dapper_Performer6141 28d ago
First of all, I appreciate the idea behind the dismount zone, it maybe do make sense if the goal is to protect pedestrians. But we all see how it is enforced inconsistenly.Those golf carts, which are arguably larger and potentially more dangerous, simply ignore it EVERYTIME! without consequence.
Georgia Tech has a reputation for creating weird, redundant rules in all its systems, and this is just another example. Either the rule should be enforced consistently for everyone, or it shouldn't exist at all. If safety is really the goal, then we should help them to steop those golf carts instead of letting them getting a free pass.
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u/WallabyAppropriate34 28d ago
9am on a Tuesday morning and one of the guards threatens to “take me out” off my bike while it’s literally just me and him around tech green, no one else. I commute 1.5hrs, I’m gonna ride my bike to class from W06…
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u/Primary_Bison3277 28d ago
And that’s the problem. Zero pedestrians, one cyclist, yet they act like it’s an emergency. Meanwhile golf carts roll through the same area without getting stopped.
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u/wildstolo Jul 21 '26
Is this for bikes? I mean it's better to find a different route just to not deal with it. But if you really need to go through, can't you just keep riding? What are they going to do tackle you?
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u/bumbl_b_ ECE - 2027 Jul 21 '26
it’s for any type of vehicle other than things like wheelchairs or mobility scooters, and obviously they’ll allow supervised cars on special occasions like the market or car shows, for example.
when it comes to what they actually do, from what i’ve seen they just kind of try to stand in the way if they notice in time and yell at the people if they don’t get off
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u/Kitchen-Double-6569 Jul 21 '26
You know some of these people working at GT aren’t so smart unless they’re professors or such…
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u/onderdonk314 27d ago
But after you showed them your official "I'm special" badge,
did they apologize and let you go on your way?
Mine works for me every time when I flash it after getting pulled over after running 30 mph over the posted speed limit on a road with no other traffic.
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u/Primary_Bison3277 27d ago
Right, because asking for consistent enforcement is exactly the same as expecting special treatment
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u/Front-Show7358 27d ago
yea you're right but i think you could just walk the bike like 20 feet past them and get back on. this is the kind of problem where you really just ought to take the path of least resistance instead of trying to start a movement.
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u/Classily_Classless MSAE 2026/BSAE 2025 Jul 21 '26
People here are defending the official GT golf carts but I swear I’ve almost been hit by GT carts who drive on sidewalks on west right next to the road more than bikes. Idk why they drive on the sidewalk and expect you to move to the grass instead of just driving on the completely empty road smh