Getting Around Campus and the Community
Oberlin College is a pedestrian friendly campus and encourages its students, and local faculty and staff, to leave their cars and other motorized transportation at home.
Photo credit: Matthew Lester
Walking and Biking
It’s easy to get around this 4.4-square mile community and 440-acre campus. Several paved walkways and smooth paths link north and south campus, as well as traverse Tappan Square into downtown Oberlin. The town is bike friendly, with bike racks in front of most major buildings.
If you don’t own a bike or prefer to leave your bike at home, head over to the Oberlin Bike Co-op in the basement of Keep Cottage, a cooperatively run bicycle repair, rental, and education center that opened in 1986. The Bike Co-op provides bikes for rent on a semester or summer basis. You also can learn how to care for your bike such as patch a leaky tube, or adjust breaks gone wrong.
The Oberlin Bike Shop is located on Main Street in downtown Oberlin and offers a variety of products and services.
Oberlin also lies on a paved bicycle and pedestrian path along the Lorain County section of the North Coast Inland Trail. If you want to take a longer bike ride, this section travels southwest to Kipton and makes its way northeast to Elyria for a total distance of 13.5 miles. The trail crosses Pyle Road, South Professor Street, and East Lorain Street.
Find bike racks and bike repair locations on campus
Campus Safety Services
The college offers a Walking Safety Escort Service from dusk to dawn upon request for anyone who prefers not to walk alone. Campus security officers, their student assistants, and the Student Shuttle System participate in this service.
You may request a safety escort to walk with you to any college building, residence hall, or parking lot by calling Campus Safety at 440-775-8444 or by using any of the blue campus emergency phones.
More about Campus Safety services
Local Shopping Shuttle
The Oberlin College Shopping Shuttle offers Saturday service from Stevenson Hall to Drug Mart, IGA, Walmart, Aldi, and CVS on a loop. Riders can board at any location.
The service is available from noon to 4 p.m., Saturdays during the academic year when classes are in session. It departs from Stevenson Hall approximately every half hour. The final pick up from Walmart is 3:30 p.m.
Please note that while students are picked up from Stevenson Hall only, they can be dropped off at either Stevenson Hall or Bibbins Hall.
All are welcome to use this service—students, faculty, staff, visitors, and community members. Reservation not required. This service is free.
The Oberlin Shopping Shuttle is operated by Airport Oberlin Shuttle (AOS) under an agreement with Oberlin College.