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The Transportation iCAP team met via zoom from 9:00 A.M.-10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, September 29th. This meeting featured an update on proposed telecommuting policies from Doctor James Gallaher, discussions on the iCAP Objectives Assessment and iCAP celebration, and a general review of the goals and projects of the committee.
Please see attached the list of avenues used to promote Bike Day 2021
All, Heck of a week we just had. Tuesday was Bike To Work Day and Light The Night; both events went well. CBC as a LTN location was not as popular as the other two spots but we are still only in our second year of offering this location; the other two spots have been there for over 10 years and have a lot more passers-by. I do appreciate the convenience of not having to go anywhere for the event, though!
BTWD was a decent turn out. We had around 30 people stop by to pick up their shirts. iSEE shot some footage for a promo video. I also talked with a few profs/pro staff folks who said this was their first bike commute, which was great. Hopefully they’ll stick with it! It also reminded me I need to brush up on my beginning commuter tips…
Our Grand Opening event was a success. We got to show off our space to quite a few people who’d never been by before and a handful of regulars that were duly impressed with the upgrade from our old space.
This week I’ve got a new student worker starting, so that will be a welcomed addition to the team. I’ll also pick up some bikes from TBP for rebuild as we’re flush out of decent Shop Builds. Demand has waned a bit or word is spreading that we’re out of bikes so fewer folks are coming by—either way, we’ll get a few more fixed up this week.
The numbers:
Visitors: TBD
Sales: $513.50
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
Memberships: 5 for $150
Tire/tubes: 6 for $19.50
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Please see attached the ridership information for August 2021.
Bike Day 2021 was organized on September 14, 2021! Here are some of the numbers from the events from Bike Day 2021.
Bike to Work Day:
Light the Night:
General feedback was very positive from the campus community members. Several mentioned that holding these events in September felt like a welcoming event and gave the returning and new students an opportunity to explore the campus and community on bike and learn about the bike program at the beginning of school year!
The Bike Month Planning team and Light the Night Planning teams are considering organizing both of these events in the fall semester going forward.
iSEE produced a video to promote Bike to Work Day and Light the Night 2021 on Tuesday, September 14, 2021.
See the video here Bike Day 2021 on September 14 - Bike to Work Day and Light the Night!
Celebrate CU Bike Day 2021
Be a part of two great upcoming bicycle events on Tuesday, September 14. You can participate, volunteer, or do both!
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign achieved the Silver-level Bicycle Friendly University status in October 2019 because of its ongoing commitment to improving bicycle education, infrastructure, and programs. Visit the Bike at Illinois website to learn more about the many efforts that support bicycling on campus.
Bike to Work Day
Champaign County Bike to Work Day returns this semester. There will be 17 welcoming stations open between 7 and 10 a.m., with nine on the Urbana campus. Grab a snack and get some free Bike at Illinois merchandise and a T-shirt! To get the free T-shirt, you must register and bring your bicycle!
Light the Night
The 14th annual Light the Night, a free bike light giveaway, will be held that evening from 4 to 7 p.m. at three locations:
Participants must bring their bicycles to receive the free light sets; lights will only be installed on bicycles without lights. Volunteers are needed in the afternoon and evening for three shifts. Fill out the volunteer sign-up form to assist. All volunteers will be required to wear face coverings during the event.
All, Another busy week. Only managed to replenish our stock of For Sale Bikes by a few this week but sold them all within an hour of being open each day. Demand for bikes is still sky-high. Accordingly, most—if not all—of the Build-a-Bikes have been claimed. We did receive a couple of viable donations we’ll fix up this week.
This week, I’ll also be promoting our Grand Re-Opening that’s happening Thursday, 9/16 from 4 – 7p. We’ve got flyers we’re handing out and talking it up to everyone who comes into the Bike Center. Here’s a blurb we can share out to relevant contacts:
On Thursday, September 16th, from 4-7, Campus Bike Center is celebrating their Grand Re-Opening at their new location on 51 E. Gregory Dr., Champaign, IL 61820. Come enjoy fun activities, games, and a chance to win a free bike! UIPD will be doing an escorted ride around the block at 5:00 for riders who would like to join. There will be tabling from campus and community organizations, and on the basketball court side you will get a chance to make a basket and be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a refurbished bicycle. We plan to give away an adult bike and a child one. See you there!
We’ve got a couple new hires in the pipeline that should be onboard in the next week or so—fingers crossed.
The numbers:
Visitors: 105
Sales: $1,732
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $675
Build-a-Bike: 3 for $120
Memberships: 17 for $510
Tires/tubes: 17 for $82
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
A first of its kind at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a 14’x63’ covered Bike Shelter has been installed and is ready for use in the Ikenberry Commons area between Flagg Hall and Noble Hall. It can accommodate up to 96 bicycles at a time utilizing side stage (vertical) bike racks.
See attached the pictures from first week of August!
We have installed a set of Eco-Counter's pedestrian and bicycle counter at the intersection of Wright St and Healey St on August 31, 2021. This counter location is now active and collecting data!
All, No mistaking it now. We’re busy, busy, busy. We’ve sold out of all our regular-sized bikes and only have 3 left that fill out the extreme ends of the size-spectrum: two very small and one very large bike.
We’ve been very vocal about hiring here while we’re open and have had some verbal interest but nothing that has actually translated to applications—yet. I did interview and am in the hiring process for one new employee, so that’s a start.
On Friday, Jeff Yockey stopped by and grabbed a handful of Grand Opening flyers to hand out at the Habitat Bicycle Sale. Habitat sells some of their bikes in As Is condition meaning folks might need somewhere or some parts to get their bikes rolling a little better and we’d be just the place. Always nice to get our name out to the larger community.
On Saturday, I participated in LAB’s Traffic Skills 101 course. Despite 13 years of regular commuting, not all of the maneuvers and handling came naturally to me. Always more to learn. Up next is the official LCI training seminar in September.
This week I’ll be fielding more applications and building bikes to attempt to meet demand.
The numbers:
Visitors: 141
Sales: $2,100.50
Memberships: 17 for $510
Bikes: 8 for $1,190
Tires/tubes: 12 for $39
U-locks: 6 for $136
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Purchase request to procure a pair of Eco-Counter bicycle and pedestrian counter has been approved. PO# P2196145.
All, Last week was absolutely bonkers busy. We sold out of most of our bikes, handed out bike registration stickers, and taken in some drop-off repairs. We were closed on Friday for a staff training so we did all that in two days. We’re really getting to see how our new space handles the crush of people this time of year. Only downside is we’re only able to be open M/W/F since we’re critically low on staffing. Once we hire and onboard more folks, we’ll be able to bump up our hours some more.
Over the weekend we had the Illini Frenzy event which was a great outreach opportunity. We handed out lots of Bike Center stickers, slap bracelets and flyers.
This week will likely be as busy or busier than last. Buckle up!
The numbers:
Sales: $1,848
Bikes: 9 for $1,410
Memberships: 6 for $180
Tire/tubes: 17 for $66
U-locks: 10 for $215
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
On 6/8/2021, the Student Sustainability Committee released a semesterly report on the Bicycle Registration and RFID Tracking Program. The report is attached.
All, We’re getting legitimately busy nowadays! We’ll be keeping an eye on overall capacity and having to limit some visitors soon.
I’m scrambling to finish more bikes to capitalize on the surging demand but we’ll likely sell out this week or next.
Over the weekend we’ve gotten over 50 bike registration notifications so it’s likely we’ll see an uptick in registration pick-ups here.
We had a patron come in on Friday who’s an RA at LAR and took all of our rack card flyers to hand out to his students—hopefully that’ll bump up our applications.
The numbers:
Visitors: 41
Sales: $1,362.60
Bikes (refurb): 6 for $940
Memberships: 6 for $180
Tires/tubes: 8 for $42
U-locks: 6 or $126
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Light the Night - free bike light giveaway event, is scheduled for September 14, 2021 from 4-7 pm
All, This update is a day late as I was out of the office on Monday.
Last week I was out on Thursday and Friday as well. Student staff covered Bike Center hours in my absence. On Monday last week we received a bike from Housing which we were able to quickly fix up and put out for sale.
This week we have a couple drop off repairs to catch up on, a few more bikes to fix up for sale, and some donations to process.
The numbers:
Visitors: 26
Sales: $1,167
Memberships: 6 for $180
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $500
U-locks: 5 for $105
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Please see attached the final bicycle registration sign design in JPEG and PDF formats. We have received approvals from Housing to put up these signs in the major high traffic bicycle parking locations, mainly in the SDRP, LAR, FAR/PAR, and Busey Evans bicycle parking areas. We are also looking at Illini Union and ARC for these signs in this cycle, but dependent on funding.
Sarthak Prasad has submitted a work order to fabricate and install the bike registration signs at these locations (as mentioned in previous project updates). The Work Order number is 10885468.
Sarthak Prasad worked with Rachel Hull in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement to create a campaign story on With Illinois to request donations towards the Campus Bicycle Plan Implementation and Mission Fund. This is a community funding campaign and Sarthak will be promoting it to the Bike at Illinois social media and community partners. The current goal is to raise $500 before September 14, 2021.
Read how you can "Help Bike at Illinois improve your bicycle experience on campus!" Please share this campaign story and make a donation ($1 minimum) to help us achieve this goal.
On August 2, 2021, SSC approved the scope change for the Bike and Ped Counters project as requested on July 21, 2021. Sarthak Prasad will make a purchase request to procure a new set of Eco-Counter bicycle and pedestrian counters.
See the project update for Scope Change requested: Bike and Ped Counters.
