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All, Sneakily busy last week. Warmer weather this week will likely keep visitors darkening the doors. Still plugging away at the abandoned bikes. Had an interview last week for another student worker to bolster our team in advance of the really warm weather.
The numbers:
Visitors: 43
Sales: $615.50
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $260
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
Memberships: 3 for $90
Tires/tubes: 2 for $5
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
Happy New Year! Since my last email, we hosted our annual Kid’s Bike Giveaway. It was terrible weather with a steady cold rain, but we still gave away 70+ bikes in about 20 minutes. There was supposed news coverage with WCIA but I wasn’t able to track down the actual footage. Not an hour after we’d given away all the bikes, someone showed up with a couple kids bike donations. Already started on next year!
The semester started last week, and we were surprisingly busy—even on Friday when it was a snowy mess out there, which meant it was a melting snowy mess in our workshop, too. A good problem to have.
We’ll see how we fare this week with the freezing rain.
The numbers:
Visitors: 21
Sales: $283
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $170
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tube/tire: 1 for $4
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
All, We’re down to a skeleton crew here as a lot of staff have departed for the semester. We’ll be fielding/repairing donations for the Kids Bike Giveaway this week, as a few last-minute folks have been reaching out thanks to mentions in E-week and the like. We’ll close after hours on Friday for the semester and reopen Tues, January 16th.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!
The numbers:
Visitors: 23
Sales: $264
Memberships: 4 for $120
Tires/tubes: 7 for $40
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
WCIA 3 interviewed Steve Breitwieser regarding the recent Bicycle Friendly University award to the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. This news item aired on November 30, 2023.
Please see the news item here: https://www.wcia.com/news/u-of-i-upholds-distinction-as-a-bicycle-friend...
You might be a long-time friend of CCB, or someone we just met at the Farmer's Market this summer. Either way, come hang out for a while with us at the 25 O'Clock Brewing Company. We will bring the snacks, you bring your stories from 2023 and ideas for 2024.
And you are welcome to bring a cyclist friend with you.
See you Saturday!
Jeff
All, Hope everyone had a good holiday break! Mine extended into Monday, so this is a day late.
We got a few more kids bike donations come in the Friday before we closed for the break, so we are full steam ahead in soliciting donations and fixing them up. With the nippy weather we should have plenty of time to work on the donations we have so far and tackle some cleaning/organizing that always gets pushed to the slower and colder months. We’ll also continue to make progress on the barn bikes.
The numbers:
Visitors: 24
Sales: $476.50
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
Memberships: 4 for $120
Tires/tubes: 6 for $61
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
Read the article online at: https://dailyillini.com/news-stories/campus-life/2023/11/14/ui-partnersh.... This article was published on November 14. 2023.
UI updates partnership with Veo Cosmo trial
By , • November 14, 2023
Anh-Khoi Pham
Veo bikes sit in front of Wohlers Hall on Nov. 10.
After the positive feedback surrounding Veo’s campus pilot program introduced in May, the University will continue its partnership with the transportation service and promote e-bike safety on campus.
The University began its partnership with Veo Micromobility, a bike-share company promoting the availability of clean transportation, in 2019. The partnership allowed students to pay to use bikes and scooters through the Veo app.
Over the summer, stemming from community demand, Veo launched a campus pilot project to introduce motorized class 2 e-bikes. Also known as Cosmo models, these bikes were meant to expand upon the University’s existing rideshare program.
According to an article posted by the bike company Aventon, class 2 e-bikes differ from the previously offered bikes and scooters by providing “assistance when pedaling” and having “a maximum speed of 20 mph with a throttle.”
Sarthak Prasad, sustainable transportation assistant at Facilities & Services, said that the partnership has improved transportation accessibility both on and off campus.
“Veo is providing a service to campus for our students, whether it’s for general use, recreational use or fun,” Prasad said. “For the community outside the University, they have added a value for lower-income families.”
However, Aidan Joyce, sophomore in LAS, said that the pricing of Veo rentals prevents him from using the service more.
“I think that if (Veo) actually lowered the prices, then more people would use the new bikes,” Joyce said.
Since the introduction of the Cosmo e-bikes, Prasad said that minimal safety and vandalism issues have been noticed by the University administration. Despite this, certain questions about e-bike safety for pedestrians on campus have arisen.
“There have been a few minor safety concerns, and we’re working with Veo on those things,” Prasad said. “It’s not just Veo — it’s with the increase in the number of e-bikes and e-scooters that we see on campus.”
Prasad emphasized that the University is currently working on educational campaigns that promote bicycle, e-bike and e-scooter safety, including how to safely ride your bicycle while being aware of your surroundings.
Another issue that has arisen from the introduction of the Cosmo bikes has been the protection of public spaces for non-Veo cyclists.
Geofencing, the GPS technology Veo uses to ensure bikes do not enter specific “no-ride zones,” has also failed to prevent certain inconveniences for typical bikers on campus.
“There are a couple of issues that we have seen with the geofencing restrictions,” Prasad said. “If Cosmo e-bikes are taking up all or a lot of the spaces, then there’s not enough room for people with personal bicycles to park in that area.”
However, despite these minor issues resulting from the introduction of class 2 e-bikes, Prasad said that the response surrounding the campus pilot program was overall favorable.
“There was a community feedback request back at the end of summer, and the response was very positive from the community towards this program,” Prasad said.
Please see announcement online here: https://fs.illinois.edu/News/campus-renews-its-bicycle-friendly-universi...
Campus Renews Its Bicycle Friendly University Certification
Nov 16, 2023 | 11:54 am
The Urbana Campus Extends Its Bicycle Friendly University Status Through 2027
For over a decade, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been recognized as a Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) for its unwavering devotion to promoting and providing a bike-friendly environment for students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
Recently, the LAB renewed the university’s designation through 2027, based on continued efforts and achievements in advancing and enabling safe, accessible, and transformative bicycling opportunities on campus. The Urbana campus is among a select group of 221 colleges and universities in 46 states and the District of Columbia that are taking action to address the health and environmental challenges facing the nation by creating campuses more welcoming to people who bike.
Associate Vice Chancellor and Executive Director of Facilities & Services Ehab Kamarah said, “We want to encourage even more individuals to regularly ride their bikes on our campus as a primary means of transportation. Being a Bike Friendly University exemplifies our commitment to making that possible by enhancing safety for active transportation modes, modernizing infrastructure, and supporting programs that make it easy, affordable, fun for everybody to bike.”
Highlights of the university’s significant accomplishments include the following:
Engineering
Education
Encouragement
Equity
Education & Planning
The university’s bike efforts and outreach are chronicled at https://bike.illinois.edu. More information about the BFU program is available at https://bikeleague.org/university. For questions, contact Sarthak Prasad sprasad9@illinois.edu, 217-300-9575.
All, Busy week on the sales floor as the weather warmed up and we sold a few bikes. Also, got a half dozen or so kids bikes repaired for the KBG event in December.
Over the weekend the Bike Project held their Cranksgiving bike food drive. Riders were able to collect ~400 lbs of donations to Faith UMC Food Pantry!
The numbers:
Visitors: 43
Sales: $1,173.75
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $530
Memberships: 7 for $210
Tires/tubes: 26 for $229
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
All, Halloween was last week, and we are still awash in candy and Halloween-themed cellophane.
Weather bumped back up, too, and we had a wait for stands on Friday. As the mercury goes, so do we. Accordingly, Monday and Wednesday project to be busy.
Getting some bikes on the sales floor and tackling some organizational projects; will continue to do so this week. Will also tackle some more kids bikes as we ramp up production for that.
This coming Saturday (11/11) the Bike Project is hosting Cranksgiving, a bicycle ride/food drive to collect donations for a local food pantry. I’ll mention it to my staff and patrons this week.
The numbers:
Visitors: 43
Sales: $484
Memberships: 9 for $270
Tires/tubes: 8 for $59
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
Sarthak & Ethan Meeting 11/3
Campus landscape master plan
Evaluation section
Implementation
Wednesday we will organize the document
Equity and accessibility section
Existing Conditions
Crash Data
Landscape plan excel:
Staff collected and updated data for the month of October on 11/2/23.
Hi Stacey and Morgan,
Please see attached the facilities standard for Streets, Driveway, Sidewalk, and Bicycle Network. This standard was just updated in August 2023, but the point about Campus Bike Plan has been in place since at least the last standard update.
Bicycle Network: Bicycle path facilities shall be constructed according to the Campus Bicycle Plan, available through F&S Transportation Demand Management and also available at: 2014 Campus Bicycle Plan. All new bicycle paths shall be a connected part of the campus bicycle network as well as the community bicycle networks, and shall follow the Champaign County Greenways and Trails Design Guidelines, developed by CUUATS.
Bicycle Paths: Bicycle paths shall use design geometry, striping, symbols, and signage as described in the 2014 Campus Bicycle Plan.
Thank you,
Sarthak
All, Made some headway on the abandoned bikes and already have six on the sales floor. We tabled at the Green Quad Day last week as well. This week I’ll work on tallying inventory--and the marketing/publicity—for the Kids Bike Giveaway as well as getting regular bikes up for sale.
The numbers:
Visitors: 47
Sales: $862
Build-a-Bike: 1 for $40
Memberships: 14 for $420
Tire/tubes: 17 for $131
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
Dear Sarthak,
Thank you again for applying to the League of American Bicyclists' Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) program! After careful review of your 2023 application, and in consultation with local cyclists and advocates, I am pleased to inform you that University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is awarded a Silver BFU designation. Congratulations! You should take great pride in the bicycle friendly campus you have created for your students, employees, and visitors!
The official announcement of the 2023 BFU Awards will be made next Thursday, October 26, through the distribution of a national press release and online at www.bikeleague.org. We appreciate you keeping the news of your award private until then so that we may have a more effective and impacting message. We hope that you too will announce your designation on October 26th.
Included below are links to an announcement toolkit for your use, along with the 2023-2027 Silver BFU award seals.
2023 BFU Award Announcement Toolkit: https://bit.ly/BFU_2023_AnnouncementToolkit
2023-2027 Silver BFU Award Seal image files: https://bit.ly/BFU_Silver_2023
We love to showcase our new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Universities on the League's blog and social media platforms! To help us highlight your campus as a Bicycle Friendly University, we invite you to submit photos and quotes about bicycling on your campus through our BFU Story Form!
In the coming weeks, detailed feedback on your application will be sent via email and you will receive a Bicycle Friendly University award letter and certificate in the mail. If you would like to order additional materials to promote your BFU designation, please visit our online store here.
Your award designation is good for four years, through 2027, after which time you will be reminded to renew. You are welcome to renew before then if your campus makes considerable improvements and would like to be considered for a higher designation.
Congratulations again on your efforts, and I look forward to our continued work!
Best,
Amelia Neptune
Director, Bicycle Friendly America
League of American Bicyclists
After the 'Learn How to Ride a Bike' event held on October 7th 2023, the 2 balance bikes used were stored at the Campus Bike Center. They were returned to Jeff Yockey on October, 16th 2023, by Sarthak Prasad and I (Tushar).
'Learn How to Ride a Bike' event was held on Saturday, October 7th, 2023 between 11am and 1:30pm. 3 students attended the event. Please find the attached report and presentation for details.
Hi Morgan and Lisa,
This fall I have submitted two SSC step-1 applications:
See attached the application. Thank you,
Sarthak
All, Big news of last week is the abandoned bikes. Bike Project folk and I were able to take an inventory of the bikes that are available and given the number of bikes—fewest in my tenure!—we are not partnering with Working Bikes this year. I communicated as much last week and no hard feelings. If anything, they’re happy to hear we have less bike waste—and they would know, they’ve got a 3 story building full of bikes.
This week we have a couple new staff members starting here. We’ll do some off-hours training with them.
The numbers:
Visitors: 40
Sales: $1,030.50
Memberships: 18 for $540
Tires/tubes: 27 for $212
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center
Following the deadline day to claim impounded bicycles, Sarthak Prasad reached out to Jake Benjamin, campus bike center coordinator, to inform that these bicycles are now considered donated to the Campus Bike Center and the Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign. See the email below:
Hi Jake,
The deadline to claim impounded bicycles have passed, so you can start checking the bicycles in the barn now. These bicycles are now considered donated to the Campus Bike Center and the Bike Project. I have the serial number information for almost all of those bicycles in the spreadsheet as well. We had about 240ish bicycles to start with and 24 bicycles were returned this year.
Thank you,
Sarthak
