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Projects Updates for Encourage Bicycle Use

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  1. Family and Graduate Housing outreach event at Orchard Downs Community Center

    On 08/26/2023, Sarthak and Hrushikesh were part of a tabling event held in the community center of Family and Graduate Housing at Orchard Downs. Our goal in the event was to spread awareness about the use of bicycles and to give out all the information about bicycles along with free goodies like wrist bands, Keychain, Bike route maps, Bicycle safety rules, and Bike Registration procedure.

    Attached Files: 
  2. Meeting with Cynthia: Upcoming Events Learn How to Ride a Bicycle

    On 07/12/2023, Cynthia (C-U SRTS Project Chair) had a meeting with Sarthak and Hrushikesh to plan and discuss events that will help promote use of bicycle on Campus.

    Meeting Minutes:

    - Youth Cycling Instructor has gone through enough training to help in the event, but is not certified.

    - 2 events will be held initially

    1) Event - Learn to Ride

    Date - Tentatively scheduled on 08/12/2023 (Saturday) or 08/12/2023 (Sunday) (Morning preferred)

    Location - Basketball Courts near Campus Bike Center

    Students - 2-3 students per LCI

    Limit to 6 students in Total

    *2 Volunteers required (including 1 Mechanical Volunteer @Jake)

    *Electric Bikes not preferred

    2) Basic Bicycling Skills Class - 10-12 people limit

    * For these events Bikes can be made available by Bike Rodeo. 

    - Ride Illini Initiative - Bicycle Friendly Businesses can be involved to incentivize use of Bicycles.

  3. Sarthak Prasad and Daphne Hulse present Sustainable Transportation and Zero Waste topics to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students at Franklin STEAM Academy

    Presentations given during the lunch sessions for each grade in the library. Franklin STEAM hosts sustainability speakers each April in honor of Earth Month.

     

     

    Thanks so much for coming!!!

    We really appreciate your time and energy today speaking to Franklin's future "world rescuers."

     

    I know you cannot attend our Open House this May 11th but do consider if you would like to table at our fall Open House on September 14th.

     

    We really appreciated your clear and important messages.

     

    Zanne Newman

    Magnet Site Coordinator

    Franklin STEAM Academy

     

  4. iWG Meeting 9-9-22

    The iCAP Working Group met on 9-9-22 and discussed the following agenda. The meeting minutes are attached. 

    1. Introductions
    2. Reminder of our role on the iWG
    3. Edu006 Sustainability in Study Abroad: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/edu006-sustainability-study-abroad-submitted
    4. Edu007 Big10 Green Career Fair: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/edu007-big10-green-career-fair-submitted
    5. Bike program/bike registration free
    Attached Files: 
  5. The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with the U of I Campus Bike Center, is hosting a Kids’ Bike Giveaway this holiday season!

    The Bike Project is currently accepting donations of all kids’ and teen bikes, regardless of condition, and then refurbishing them to give back to young folks in the community!

     

    Donations can be made at the Urbana Bike Project (202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana) or at the Campus Bike Center (51 E. Gregory Dr., Champaign).

     

    Please call (217) 469-5126 or email contact@thebikeproject.org to arrange a donation.

     

    Kids' Bike Giveaway Event:

    Date: Saturday, December 19th, 2020
    Time: 1 pm – 3pm or until we run out of bikes
    Location: Urbana Bike Project (202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana)

    Details: first come, first served; one bike per kid, and they must be present to pick out their bike.

     

    All health and safety guidelines will be followed.

  6. Bike Month plans for 2020 cancelled

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi All,

     

    I think we have reached a working consensus: postpone the major events of CU Bike Month 2020 (Bike to Work Day, Bike to School Day, etc.). I think Urbana’s Market at the Square is going to different as well, especially in May.  So likely no Bike to Market, no Spring Bike Rodeos, etc.

     

    I think we can find ways to stay in contact with our participants from the last few years and encourage them that going out on bike rides could be a very healthy and life giving activity this spring. The links below are from a post today by another cycling advocate:

     

    I think the message that cycling can reduce stress is a positive message while we navigate this pandemic.

    We are in unprecedented times. Our thoughts go out to the people who have been affected by this global health crisis, and we are humbled by those on the front lines who are working tirelessly to contain the coronavirus. 

    https://la.streetsblog.org/2020/03/13/bicycling-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/

     

    https://www.bicycling.com/news/a31469228/cycling-during-coronavirus/

     


    We have time to look at the fall and think about how to schedule and balance our programs and energies.  So no need to do a lot of that at the moment.

     

     

    So, let’s ponder this decision to cancel the organized parts of CU Bike Month 2020 overnight and touch base again tomorrow in the early afternoon to finalize our decision, or consider an alternative.  Check with your colleagues, read the news, look at your calendars, and either Gabe or I will start a group email after lunch.

     

    Jeff

  7. Near Far Without a Car Flyer

    Facilities & Services (F&S) updated the Near Far Without a Car flyer (or CarFree Flyer) in August 2019. This flyer lists the alternative modes of transportation available at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It also consists of essential safety information, such as SafeRides, SafeWalks, DRES shuttles, Bicycle Safety Tips, Bike Registration, etc.

    F&S has partnered with several departments across the University to distribute the information in this flyer to thousands of old and new students. For example, this flyer will be distributed to more than 3,000 incoming international students during their mandatory check-in at the International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS). F&S has also partnered with MTD to distribute this flyer to students at the Quad Day.

     

    Attached Files: 
  8. email from Champaign County Bikes

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Everyone,

    Ben from VeoRide and I have started a discussion about how we can make sure the VeoRide Bike Share opportunity is known and available to everyone in our Champaign/Urbana community.  We are not alone.  Other communities are exploring this question too. There is even a Better Bike Share Association! 

     

    http://betterbikeshare.org

    https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/bike-share-expansion-neighborhood-perception/545012/

    https://ppms.trec.pdx.edu/media/project_files/TREC_BreakingBarriersSummaryReport_emQeiBA.pdf

     

    Are any of you interested in joining this conversation?  Do you know of others who would be interested?  Let me know and I’ll create an email list and keep you in the loop of ideas and meetings.

     

    Note: CU has a dockless bike share system and some of these studies looked at cities like Chicago and their large public docked bike share systems like Divvy.  But I think we can learn a great deal from what these studies and authors have learned about the introduction of bike share to various populations of potential riders.

     

    CHANGING MINORITY & LOW INCOME PERCEPTIONS OF BIKE SHARE 
    -> Smart Cities Dive reports when bike share was not understood or accepted when it expanded to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. A grant from the Better Bike Share Partnership provided resources for a community-led campaign. A historically rooted, minority-led organization lead the charge. Community groups and churches organized group rides, and schools offered bike education classes. Ads were rewritten to reflect the voice and priorities of the neighborhood. Discounted memberships were publicized and bulk memberships were offered to employers to get more people to sign up. From there, more listening sessions in the neighborhood helped Citi Bike explore new dock locations that would better serve the community. Just a year later, Bed-Stuy was an unexpected poster child for Citi Bike. Personal engagement has become a top priority for successful cities trying to expand mobility options. http://bit.ly/2CKogRj

    [See Research section for links to 2 studies of minority and low-income neighborhood bike share perceptions and concerns.]

    MINORITY & LOW INCOME NEIGHBORHOOD PERCEPTIONS OF BIKE SHARE 
    -> Smart Cities Dive reports as bike share expands, neighborhood perception is key. (http://bit.ly/2CKogRj) A recent study published in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice on bike share systems in Chicago reinforced a persistent problem for new mobility options: Minority and low-income neighborhoods aren't always on board. (Where Does Active Travel Fit within Local Community Narratives of Mobility Space and Place?: http://bit.ly/2Fe1jsg) Researchers used advanced machine learning to analyze focus groups of residents of 2 contrasting neighborhoods. Minority and low-income residents worry bike-sharing presence is yet another sign of a gentrifying neighborhood while more pressing needs, such as safety measures or expanded broadband are not addressed. 

    A study from the Transportation Research and Education Center surveyed residents in Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY and found people of color, or those with lower incomes, had more concerns about bike sharing than white or high-income people. (Breaking Barriers to Bike Share: Insights on Equity: http://bit.ly/2FfqCdy) Among those concerns were uncertainty about how it worked, and the cost and the fear that bike share would make their neighborhoods too expensive.

    [See The National & International Scene for an initiative that successfully changed a neighborhood vocally against bike share to on that embraces it.]

     

    ___________________

     

     

    CCB has a growing concern about Cycling Equity, and making sure cycling events, education, infrastructure, and opportunity reach to all the neighborhoods and people in the greater Champaign/Urbana area. We will be giving this some thought as be plan for CU Bike Month 2019, and particularly, our Bike to Work Day - given that the data is showing that the majority of the people who bike to work in Champaign/Urbana are not pedaling towards the U of I, where we have traditionally put most of our efforts.

     

    If you are interested in helping us explore something new and additional to our Bike to Work Day, let me know.  

     

    Thanks,

     

    Jeff

     

     

    From a Washington Post article looking a census data:

     

    Of special interest, the demographics also reveal an important underlying dichotomy. The people most likely to bike or walk to work are either the least educated in society or the most educated. Slice the demographics by income, and the less money you have, the more likely you are to take either of these modes of transportation to work. Unless, that is, you're really wealthy. The graph below illustrates that biking and walking decline as income rises, until both start to tick back up again for the two highest income groups:

    walk bike by income

     

    The pattern is even clearer when we look at educational attainment (this is my graph, using the Census data):

     

     

    BeMnlahPfKGxAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC

    Data via Census Bureau

    These two graphs illustrate a transportation paradox: Alternatives to driving in the United States are both a luxury for the well-off and a last resort for the poor.

     

    * These charts taken from here:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/05/09/the-demographic-paradox-of-who-bikes-and-walks-to-work/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c8e6397e5c49

     

    Jeff Yockey

    Board Member

    Champaign County Bikes

    www.champaigncountybikes.org

     

     

     

     

  9. ZAP! Program in Minnesota

    Associated Project(s): 

    Minnesota has been tracking bicycle commutes for the past few years using Radio-Frequency Identification tags (RFID tags). The progam has been successful at making it quick and easy for bicycle commuters to log their trips on to campus and enter them in to raffles or gain wellness points.

    More information here:

    http://www.derozap.com/gopherzap/

    and,

    https://www.derozap.com/zaptwincities/

    Interesting program to watch as it has a positive impact on the Minneapolis/St. Paul mode-share.