Zipcar is launching a nationwide competition to let student groups compete to earn funding for scholarships, operations, and driving credit. Zipcar is looking for groups to share how they are driving societal change on campus and in their community through their mission. The deadline for submissions is Friday, October 17th.

The original event post can be found here.

Email from Jacob Benjamin:

All,

Last week was the conclusion of the bike retrieval period for abandoned bikes.  We got three claims in the 11th hour, which was good. I’ll begin organizing the leftovers this week, with help from my staff. We are critically low on some used parts, so this is fortuitous timing.

Elsewhere, I have two new staffers starting this week—just in time for October!

The numbers:

Visitors: 94
Sales: $1,319.25
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $100
Memberships: 24 for $720
Tires/tubes: 28 for $153

Thanks!

The land and water team met for the first time of the academic year on Friday, September 26, 2025, from 2-3 PM on Teams with their new chair, Bridgette Moen. The team discussed when the upcoming iCAP 2025 will be released. The team also discussed project updates from the summer and refreshed the team objectives, goals, and current projects. The minutes and notes from the meeting are included here. 

The iCAP Transportation Team met on Tuesday, September 23rd, from 2:00-3:00pm to go over goals for the year. We are planning to submit two recommendations within the next month, one for EV charging for micromobility devices on campus and one regarding a change for ChromeRiver, the emission reporter for travel. 

At this Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 2011 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $305.96 in energy costs. This also prevented 2.93 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 330 gallons of gasoline being consumed. That's a great impact! 

From Aaron Madrid:

Afternoon all,
Thank you for your time today. I just wanted to recap a few action items and next steps from our call. 
1. Aaron will reach out to the parent who emailed in and offer to have a conversation and see if we can find some additional solutions for their student.

2. Aaron will coordinate meeting between geofence team, operations team, and Sarthak to discuss parking locations outside of bike racks in the coming week(s)
3. Gameday Geofence Activation
    a. Geofence will activate as a "No Parking Zone" 4 hours ahead of kick-off.
    b. Geofence will transition to a "No Ride Zone" 2 hours ahead of kick-off.
    c. Geofence will deactivate 90 minutes after the conclusion of the game.

I think this will position us to ensure we're maximizing the access for the community to gameday activities while reducing the number of errant vehicles.

Let me know if there are any questions or concerns regarding the items we discussed on our call today.

The metric "Total Campus GHG Emissions" has been updated according to SIMAP. The factors which calculate emissions are frequently refined and updated on SIMAP. Revisions are indicated on each tracking point within the metric. 

Light the Night 2025 was a success, students and community members alike biked to various stations on campus to receive free bike lights.

Bike Lights Remaining:

Email from Jacob Benjamin:

Last Wednesday was Bike To Work Day! It was a success. Had good weather and good turn outs at the stations I visited.

Light The Night is tomorrow evening. Should be good weather—if warm—for that, too!

We are busy but it’s not mayhem anymore—that’s a plus!

We are low on used tires, as is common this time of year. I’ll roll over to the Urbana shop to see if they have any to spare.

The numbers:

Sales: $1,735.35
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50

Memberships: 38 for $1140
Tires/tubes: 31 for $286

• Alma Mater Plaza
• Campus Bike Center
• Campus Recreation Center East
• College of Veterinary Medicine – Lot F27
• Disability Resources and Educational Services
• I Hotel and Illinois Conference Center – Intersection of First Street and St. Mary's Road
• Orchard Downs
• Siebel Center for Computer Science – Intersection of Main Street and Mathews Avenue

Alma Mater attendees: Bike to Work Day is TOMORROW MORNING!

C-U Bike to Work Day is tomorrow – Wednesday, September 10!  This is a reminder that you pre-registered to stop at the Alma Mater welcome station (southeast corner of Green & Wright Streets), which will be open from 7-10 AM.  Sarthak Prasad is your station manager.

Tell a friend that they can still register for Bike to Work Day today at cuBikeMonth.org or tomorrow on-site – 16 welcome stations will be open across Champaign County!

The weather looks great – dry, and temperatures between 60-75F.  Tag any photos with us on Facebook at “C-U Bike Month.”  Enjoy the ride!

The attached PDF contains performance metrics for Zipcar usage on campus for July and August 2025.

Lawn signs have been placed to advertise Bike to Work Day and Light the Night.

The Tree Campus Advisory Committee met to review the overall program and committee membership. 

• The new Campus Landscape Architect, Bridgette Moen, joined the committee. 
• Team members discussed potential additions to the committee, including students, faculty, and staff.
• Justin Vozzo shared a status update on the tree grant.
  • Picking up several trees - 90 planted total this year
  • Ryan is heading up the F&S side, Stirling is helping to manage the contracts
  • Justin is hosting some tree plantings across the state, Urbana and in Macomb
  • Two events each spring and fall for next tw o years
• The South Arboretum Woods rehab has several plants being added, and there are student employees funded by the SSC.
• The Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG) is doing another plant installation this fall, and works with volunteers. They also installed interpretive signage.
• The Urban Wood Reuse program is going well.  The new mill is here, and they are working to hire more students.
• The Committee began reviewing the goals in the 2024 Tree Care Plan.
  • The Tree Keeper Inventory is complete for F&S, and it is still in progress for the Arboretum. 
    • There is also the ARC GIS inventory - which pulls from Tree Keeper
    • Ongoing to keep it up to date
    • Tree surgeons are responsible for logging them into the system
    • Assistants are responsible for logging the stump removals - the sub-foreperson goes in to remove it and change it to open or vacant site
    • When it is removed it is no longer counted in the inventory
    • When a new tree is planted - working with the vacant sites and updating those, planning and potential planting spots and adding the new tree in there
    • We need to identify opportunities to update the existing inventory
      
      • Longer-term - should do an update - including the diameters of the trees - should update that, changes over time
      • Might need to be a tree expert - how to appropriately update it regularly - tree health - arborist or someone who knows a lot about trees
      • Potentially it could be through dendrology - students could potentially do DBH measurements and baseline health questions
      • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Justin is working on developing an arboriculture class, could do some tree inventory as part to that class 
    • ​​​​​​​Set a goal in 2025 Tree Care Plan to develop a comprehensive plan for handling tree inventory updates: get a plan together for how to do a regular update and comprehensive update.

Email from Gabe Lewis:

Happy September!

Our team has these bike-related announcements to share with you:

#1:  Bike to Work (& Class) Day is this Wednesday, September 10

If you are not pre-registered for Bike to Work Day yet, do so now and tell a friend to do the same!  cuBikeMonth.org

16 stations will be open across Champaign County, with 8 of them being on the University of Illinois campus.  Each station will have free t-shirts (while supplies last), stickers, breakfast snacks, and bike literature!

#2:  Light the Night returns on Tuesday, September 16

Bring your bike to one of four on-campus stations to get free bike lights!  You can also sign up to be a volunteer for a partial or full shift – no experience needed!

#3:  Active Transportation Plan (ATP) survey is OPEN

Calling all bicyclists, pedestrians, and park visitors:  we want to hear your thoughts via this survey and/or comment map on your experiences – good or bad! 

Completing this survey will help the Regional Planning Commission (RPC) develop the Champaign County Active Transportation Plan (ATP).  RPC staff will also be at various events this fall – including Light the Night – with tablets for people to complete this survey.  We want to hear from everyone to work on making Champaign-Urbana a better place to walk and bike!

#4:  More Bike Month events

The cuBikeMonth.org calendar has several bike events listed for September and October, including Saturday’s FREE Moonlight Bike Ride from Meadowbrook Park to the Sidney Dairy Barn!  You can also keep up with C-U Bike Month announcements on our Facebook page.

Dear iCAP team members,

Thank you for your service in helping to make the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign a more sustainable campus. On behalf of iSEE Director Madhu Khanna, please find attached the charge letter for the 2025-2026 academic year with an outline of your campus sustainability duties as part of an iCAP team. We look forward to your positive and impactful contributions.

As a reminder, we will also hold an iCAP teams kickoff meeting tomorrow, Sept 9, from 4:30-5:30pm to talk about the contents of the charge letter and what to expect over the upcoming year. It would be great if you are able to join us in person at the National Soybean Research Center in room 337, but a Teams link is also available if you cannot make it in person. A recording will be available if you are not available during that time. Please let me know if you did not receive the calendar invite.

Thank you,

Miriam Keep

Sustainable Programs Coordinator

iSEE

Here are the assigned roles for Light the Night 2025:

Station Notes:

• Green & Lincoln will also be the MTD Bike on Bus Rack Demonstration Site
• All stations will have some Project 529 Bike Registration Forms and Stickers

Timeline & Tasks:

• Event Date:  Tuesday, September 16
  • Rain Date:  Wednesday, September 17
• U of I personnel will deliver lights, tables, chairs, lawn signs, and sandwich boards to each station.
• Station Managers should be at their stations by 3:15 PM.
• First shift volunteers will arrive at 3:30 PM, and second shift volunteers will arrive at 5:15 PM.  Make sure they have a Bike Month t-shirt and light set if they want/need them.  They will also need a brief verbal training on the following:
  • Orientation of the station (where people enter and exit)
  • How to install lights
  • Brief recap of Rules of the Road
    • Ride with traffic
    • Stop at stoplights (and stop signs)
    • USE YOUR LIGHTS AT NIGHT – that’s why we’re installing them!  It is legal and safe.
  • Sending people to take the ATP survey
  • Directing people to other resources
• Tear down at 7 PM
  • Leave tables and chairs for U of I personnel to pick up
  • Remaining lights, lawn signs, sandwich boards, and Bike Month & ATP materials need to be returned to Sarthak/F&S