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Project Updates for collection: Bicycle Related Projects

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  1. Nathaniel Nevins to help with the Campus Bike Plan update

    Associated Project(s): 
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    Sarthak Prasad met with Nathaniel Nevins, high school senior, on Tuesday January 17, 2023. Nathaniel is going to help with the Campus Bike Plan update. He is going to read the 2014 Campus Bike Plan by February 15, 2023, and read both the progress reports for Campus Bike Plan by February 28, 2023. He is also going to suggest ideas for the update. Nathaniel will be volunteering over the spring semester. Following information was shared with him:

    Here is the link to the iCAP Portal: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/

    Here is the 2014 Campus Bike Plan: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/files/project/37/2014%20Campus%20Bicycle%20Plan.pdf

    Here is the 2022 report: Campus Bike Plan progress report FY22

    Here is the 2019 report: 2019 Report for 2014 Campus Bicycle Plan

  2. planning for the next bike plan

    Associated Project(s): 
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    2024 Campus Bike Plan

    Morgan and Sarthak discussed the timeline for the next Campus Bike Plan.  The 2014 plan was completed in 2014 and formally approved in March 2015 by Chancellor Wise, with an end date of 2024.  We should have the new plan approved before the end of December 2024.  It would be great to have it available to present during Sustainability Month October 2024, and get formal approval through the Sustainability Council and/or CCRC in November/December 2024.  Thus, the goal is to have a plan ready for routing for approval in summer 2024.

  3. Weekly Update: final week of semester, WCIA

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, The final week of last semester was, as expected, quiet. Very little traffic but Alex finally finished his Build-a-Bike. He’d been steadily and meticulously working on it all semester. We were able to fix up approximately 30 kids bikes here at CBC and totaled 50 for the event which happened on Saturday 12/17/22. We had 4 people bow out last minute to help for the event (thanks covid), so we had a skeleton crew but still gave away 50 bikes in about 20 minutes. The IMC staff were extremely helpful and stepped up to corral and organize folks when we were getting overwhelmed. Some folks left unhappy, I’m sure, but we still helped out a good number of kids. WCIA showed up just in time to get some footage of families departing with the last of the bikes and our story made the 10p news that night. I’ll reach out to WCIA and see if they can send me a digital copy of the broadcast so we can share that.

    This week I’ll be moving bikes from the warehouse and taking stock of our inventory, sorting bikes for our various programs, and working up some classes for next semester. Next week I’ll be tabling at College of Law orientation/resource fair. Always exciting to meet new/different groups on campus!

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 13
    Sales: $190

    Build-a-Bike: $40

     

    Thanks!

     

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  4. Weekly Update: Slow week

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Slow week again. A few more kids’ bikes trickled in, which was good. Our giveaway is this coming Saturday and we’re accepting bikes until Friday evening. A notice went out in E-week and the like so hopefully that’ll bump up our count. I haven’t taken inventory at Urbana for our total count but I’m guessing around 40 between both spaces.

    Tony, former Bike Project staffer and integral member in the creation of the original bike center in 2010 was back in town last week. He came and volunteered a full 4 hours and helped train up some staff, too.

    Our sales last week are at a record low. We had a few people in each day but looks like adjustments only, used innertubes, and no purchases. I’ll dig into the numbers this week to confirm it genuinely is that low and not an error.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 18
    Sales: $5.50

     

    Thanks!

     

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  5. Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) fall 2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC)
    Bike at Illinois Website and Campaign
    Bicycle Registration
    Pedestrian and Bicycle Counts
    Walkability Study
    ADA Transition Plan and 2017 Supplement
    Commuter Program: Bus, Bike, and Hike
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Support Zipcar in Champaign-Urbana
    Bike Share with Veo
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    Please see attached the final presentation for the CTAC fall 2022. Watch the meeting recording here: https://uofi.box.com/s/6fp2xuq2qnwv4vgm34itku4pbdy2bioy

    Attached Files: 

  6. Weekly Update (week of November 28): Kids bike give away, for-sale bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, [Ed. note: Apologies for getting this in late.] We’ve finalized our Kid’s Bike Giveaway date/time with the Bike Project and have been working through our supply of donated bikes. Serendipitously we got nearly a half dozen kids bikes donated last week, even before we put the word out on the giveaway event.

    This week we kept working through that supply. I was out on Tuesday/Wednesday but visits have been lower since the cooler weather hit.

    While we’re working on the kids bikes we’ve also been able to fix up a few for-sale bikes, sitting at about 6 done and ready to go. Still have a large supply at the warehouse, which I’ll have more time to tackle after the 17th (date of the Kids Bike Event).

    Next week I’ll move over the finished kids bike to Urbana as we’re running out of space for them here.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 25
    Sales: $185.50
    Memberships: 2 for $60
    Misc. parts: 19 for $95.50

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  7. Transportation iCAP Team Meeting 12/2/22

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Bicycle Parking & Storage
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    The transportation iCAP team met on Friday, December 2nd at 3:00 P.M. CST to discuss electric vehicle charging, and updates on bike shelter procurement for the university. Due to a software error, the meeting minutes were not recorded.

    Link to meeting recording: https://mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_u3g573fb

    Attached Files: 

  8. Week 7 - BFU Application

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status

    This week, Aparna reviewed all of the past BFU Applications submitted to compare the progress over the years. The same was discussed and gone over again with Sarthak to help with the comments and notes made by her on the applications for a more thorough understanding. The next steps would be to start filling out the application for 2023. Aparna has been added by Sarthak Prasad to help with the submission for BFU: Bicycle Friendly University 2023. 

  9. Week 6 - Next steps

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    The next steps for the project progress would be to review the past BFU applications from 2011 - 2019 to understand the stage we as a university are at currently and would help to identify, compare and contrast the work across these timelines to improve the status and make recommendations after reviewing the feedback. 


     

  10. Week 5 - Check in meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    In the past weeks,  Aparna reviewed the  BFU Application to understand the scope of work, did research/literature review work, and familiarized herself with the current initiatives taken by the university at present to combat bike thefts. Moreover, she also had a conversation with a transportation staff from UCLA and ASU who had recently reached out to me on their ideas/approach on this topic for a qualitative aspect of this project. The same was also discussed with her capstone advisor, Prof. Lindsay Braun to go over the progress and find better clarity. 

  11. Weekly Updates for the week of 11/7 and 11/14

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    [11.7.22] All, Last week we completed the bike donation event with Working Bikes. Thanks to some Bike Project volunteers we were able to pack their truck full of bikes in about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, they were unable to take all of the abandoned bikes as there are about 50 left. I’ll work with TBP to deal with the remaining junk bikes as well as the ~200 we’ll keep for refurbishment.

    Last Thursday we were donated another pull-behind trailer, upping our count to 3 of them now. I will discuss with TBP ideas to make better use of these, as they take up a lot of space and we have zero demand for them.

    This week we will reinstate the First Visit Free policy as the cooler weather sets in.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 47

    Sales: $508
    Bike (refurbished): 1 for $225
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 12 for $61

    [11.14.22]

    All, I was out sick for a portion of the non-open hours, but we were still able to get a few bikes on the sales floor and strip some bikes. This week I’ll grab some more of the good bikes from the barn and we’ll get to fixing those. We reinstated First Visit Free and were able to help folks get rolling.

    I had an interview last Friday with a potential new hire and we’ll be having a staff meeting this week to get some of our new staff up to speed as well as provide a refresher for the returning staffers.

    Next week we will be closed for Thanksgiving break. We’ll reopen Monday, 11/28/22.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 45
    Sales: $434
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $100
    Memberships: 4 for $120
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $103

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  13. Weekly Update: Reduced hours, Working Bikes this week

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    All, While my jury duty service was still in effect, we had reduced hours as needed last week but were able to open fully Wed – Fri. It was the first week of noticeably fewer folks through the doors. As such, we got a few bikes on the sales floor and a dozen or so moved over from storage.

    Tomorrow we will host Working Bikes for our donation event. This is the first one since Nov 2019. We’ll have around 200 bikes to donate and hopefully will have a few folks available to help out and make it go quicker. They’ll be providing pizza for us, too. This event will halve the number of bikes left in storage. The Bike Project and I will sort through the remaining bikes in the coming weeks.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $475.50
    Build-a-Bikes: 2 for $100
    Memberships: 4 for $120

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  14. Week 4 - Check in meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    This week Aparna got in touch with the staff of transit services from Arizona State University to understand their approach to achieving the Gold BFU certification. 

    Sarthak and Aparna also had a quick overview of the materials shared and brainstormed ideas/recommendations to raise awareness in the campus community as well as keep bike thefts in mind. 

    The next steps would be to familiarize with the topic better, collect all the research materials and make notes/highlight the existing implementation, and make comments on these.

  15. Weekly Update: Strong Towns, Bike Summit, potentially postponing Working Bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week was a busy one. We had Strong Towns talk on Tuesday and the Illinois Bike Summit on Wednesday. Got in some good networking, heard some interesting talks/discussions, and got buzzed by two MTD buses on my bike commute there and then one car on my ride back to the Bike Center. Oh, the irony.

    The cooler weather has curtailed our visitors, but we’ve had a few volunteers, too—always nice.

    Grabbed some bikes from the warehouse last week and will continue to do so as I can this week. I have jury duty potentially all this week and next week, which majorly mucks up my plans for setting up with Working Bikes since I can’t plan past day-to-day. Likely will have to bump that to early November unless circumstances change.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 42
    Sales: $266
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tires/tubes: 3 for $20

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  16. Week 3 - Check in meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    In this meeting,  potential ideas for secured bicycle parking were discussed as ways to promote awareness among the campus community. A capstone proposal outlining the final objectives and deliverables was drafted and Sarthak helped support this discussion sharing an Excel sheet that has all of the goals, current status, and plans for the future of some mentioned ideas towards achieving the said objectives with challenges that are yet to be tackled. 

    This week, Aparna is going to try to get in touch with the transportation team from other universities that have achieved the Gold BFU status to gather some ideas specific to raising awareness about bike thefts. This would navigate the research better. 

    Aparna is also spending her initial time on the project learning about the Bike registration process and other initiatives that are already ongoing at UIUC to help understand the way forward. She also has access to the iCAP portal to update and document the weekly meetings to keep a track of the project progress.

  17. Week 2 update: Objectives for capstone

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    Questions and doubts regarding the literature review done in the past week were discussed including a capstone report outline highlighting the main topics of research. More research work to follow in the coming week to help familiarize with the project's background. Aparna got contact information from the transportation department of UCLA and Arizona State University to discuss the project with their transportation team as the 2 universities have achieved the Gold BFU status and hoping to get a sense of direction or any leads on this. She is also in touch with Prof. Lindsay Braun who is her capstone advisor, and Briana Barr, Thomas Valencia, and Lily Wilcock from the City of Urbana who are working on similar projects.

    The idea was to bring more concepts and recommendations for a bike-friendly university to the table. We might also try to involve the Student Sustainability Committee, which uses a comprehensive evaluative process to fund a project that incorporates student involvement and an ability to spark change on campus. Aparna would help identify a cause as a part of the bike-friendly project which would also serve as a student-led project to apply for the SSC funding. An excel sheet that charts out the current status of the project were shared by Sarthak for better clarity, which also includes feedback from BFU to help plan for the future and achieve the desired goal.

    Three main objectives of the proposal would be -

    1. To get the BFU application drafted and ready to submit by the month of May
    2. Ideas for SSC funding for the Bike Friendly University Project
    3. Educate students and create a plan for bike thefts so that incoming students are aware of how to protect their bikes and encourage them to use this mode of transportation.

    An overall capstone proposal that outlines the said objectives and a work plan will be shared in the upcoming week. Access to the iCAP portal will be granted soon to chart out real-time updates and minutes of meetings.

  20. Weekly Update: Strong Towns, Bike Summit, Working Bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    All, Big week of events! On Tuesday, Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns is speaking at the Illinois Terminal and I’ll attend to see how our work as bike advocates and a non-profit can help bolster a strong and vibrant community. And Wednesday is the Illinois Bike Summit at the I-hotel. I’ll be there all day and reducing hours at the Bike Center to account for that. Accordingly, we’ll be open 4 – 6p on that day. I never fail to learn something at this yearly event and am happy to see it back here on campus.

    I’ll be counting/organizing bikes for donation as well this week. Hope to have the Donation Day set by end of the week and so we can begin rallying for some support/help. WB has already agreed to pay for Manolo’s!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 51

    Sales: $1,214.50

    Memberships: 17 for $510
    Tire/tubes: 8 for $94

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

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