Campus Bike Plan progress report FY23
Please see attached the FY23 progress report for the 2014 Campus Bicycle Master Plan.
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Please see attached the FY23 progress report for the 2014 Campus Bicycle Master Plan.
Please see the attached the article by Ethan Simmons of the News Gazette published on March 20, 2023. You can also read the Just Askin' | Veo bikes or scooters? online.
Sarthak & I met on 3/20/2023 to go over some more of the BFU application.
The current version of the log we are using is attached below.
Veo is starting to redeploy vehicles on campus in the coming weeks! They plan to begin redeploying bikes tomorrow, 3/16, with a goal to reach full deployment (750) by 4/8.
All, Bike Center is closed this week for Spring Break and I’ll be working an abbreviated week myself. We’ve got a dozen plus bikes for sale and I’ll safety check a few more before I bow out for the week.
On Friday, we got maybe the oddest donation yet: an iPod mini, complete with charging cord…
We reorganized and moved one of our storage racks from the backside of the space up front to the lobby so we can hold more bikes for sale up there. In the storage area, we’re pulling pedals/turning handlebars and so can fit more bikes without the rack.
In more sobering news, a patron who’d finished a Build-a-Bike a couple weeks ago was hit while riding the bike he’d fixed here and ended up in the ER needing stitches. He is fine, otherwise, and told me the news in person, so he is ok. The number of people I know who’ve been hit by a car is quickly approaching double digits.
The numbers:
Visitors: 37
Sales: $1,234.50
Bikes (refurb): 3 for $825
Membership: 2 for $60
Tires/tubes: 7 for $115
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Sarthak & I met on 3/8/2023 to go over some more of the BFU application.
The current version of the log we are using is attached below.
All, Notable item of the week was running out entirely of used 700c tires—popular size, I guess! I was able to run over to the warehouse and grab enough wheels off junk bikes that we’re able to live another week. I used the long bike trailer on Wednesday morning and yet another person called out “nice bike!” as I pedaled by. I always get looks or comments when piloting that thing around.
This week we’ll be opening back up to 5 days a week, M – F 2 to 6p. We’ll see how our Tues/Thurs numbers look but I doubt we’ll be swamped yet as folks adjust to our new hours.
We’ll be closed next week for Spring Break and reopen Monday, March 20th.
The numbers:
Visitors: 18
Sales: $174.50
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 6 for $43
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Sarthak and Ethan met with Stacey DeLorenzo to discuss their development of the planning process for the 2024 Campus Master Bicycle Plan which will occur this semester. Stacey approved of a bicycle audit happening in the fall as well as gave some suggestions for some other stakeholders to include such as Ride Illinois. They also discussed more readings to refer to such as the TDM Plan and Urbana bike plan. This semester will culminate with the meeting with CTAC discussing the working structure and plan for the next two semesters. They also talked about other potential ideas to include in the plan such as scooter parking, more bike share programs, and more bicycle education programs. Stacey agreed to meet with Sarthak and Ethan once a month to get updates on their progress.
Sarthak & I met for an hour on 2/27/2023 to discuss the 2023 BFU application. I checked some answers with him. We determined who we need to ask for some questions and answered other questions.
The current version of the 2023 BFU Application Log is attached below.
All, Another abbreviated week for me, but the staff held down the fort. We’re working up bikes and our staff is peer-to-peer training during slow times to get the new folks up to speed.
This week I’ll schedule some off-hours staff trainings and a staff meeting to help bring folks along. We’re close to being able to open back up M – F, still have a few more things to iron out. I even found the same open hours poster we used to have for our M-F hours, so we don’t have to order a new sign. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
The numbers:
Visitors: 17
Sales: $299.30
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $160
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 3 for $45
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Sarthak & I met on 2/20/2023 to go over some questions I had about the BFU application. We talked about the built environment of the campus (question A8), and clarified the total campus enrollment statistic. I also showed Sarthak the log I created to keep track of the my progress on the application, which is attached below.
All, Abbreviated week for me as I took a half day on Thursday and all of Friday off. Staff handled things admirably and I’ll check in with them today for a full shift report.
Got a couple Build-a-Bikes completed and a bike sold last week. We’ve got a dozen or so bikes on the floor and working to bump that number. I’ll likely grab a few more bikes from the warehouse, too.
The numbers:
Visitors: 29
Sales: $429.25
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $90
Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $100
Memberships: 1 for $30
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Ethan and Sarthak met via zoom to discuss Ethan’s progress in reviewing relevant documents toward the former 2014 Bicycle Plan and for the future 2024 Bicycle Plan. Ethan has finished reading the 2019 and 2023 progress reports on the bicycle plan and reviewed which projects have been finished and are yet to be finished. Ethan’s main goal is to develop a presentation for a meeting with Morgan and Stacy to discuss the work he and Sarthak have been doing. Also, they must present their plan for the semester in regard to developing the planning process for the next year, in reference to the 2024 Bicycle Plan. Ethan and Sarthak also discussed highlighting the bicycle audit expected to be done in the Fall.
Daily Illini published an article on the recent cyclist collision with an MTD bus by Transit Plaza: https://dailyillini.com/news-stories/2023/02/13/mtd-campus-resources-res...
MTD, campus resources respond to recent cyclist collision
By Layli Nazarova, Staff Writer
February 13, 2023
Following the recent incident on Wright Street involving a cyclist and an MTD bus, MTD said that the bus “was operating safely” and not at fault for the collision.
“We do not know what caused the cyclist to swerve toward the side of the bus, but we do know the bus was operating safely outside the bike lane and did not take action to cause contact,” said Amy Snyder, chief of staff at MTD, in an email.
According to Snyder, road safety is one of the MTD’s top priorities which they achieve through training.
“MTD maintains an extensive training program to on-board and retrain current Operators to drive safely in our busy campus environment,” Snyder said. “It involves classroom curriculum, simulated environments and on-the-street instruction.”
The overall number of bike crashes has significantly decreased over the past few years, according to the Illinois Climate Action Plan portal. That may be due to improvements in bike infrastructure on campus, according to Steven Breitwieser, a spokesperson for University Facilities & Services.
“In the last 10-15 years, the University has improved bicycle infrastructure to provide a safer, more convenient and enjoyable experience for bicyclists,” Breitwieser said. “These efforts emphasize better connecting the campus bike network with surrounding communities.”
Most of those infrastructure changes are a part of the University’s Campus Bicycle Master Plan published in 2014.
However, the accidents still occur and, according to Campus Bike Center Coordinator Jacob Benjamin, students continue to express concerns regarding road safety.
“Most of our education really is face to face with folks that come in,” Benjamin said. “Generally, the safety concerns are related to being able to be seen well at night.”
To increase safety and spread awareness among cyclists, the Campus Bike Center provides various resources.
“We try to educate folks more on defensive bike riding, as well as predictable bike riding,” Benjamin said. “There’s the Illinois bike safety quiz that the League of American cyclists puts out. We encourage everybody to take that. And we have a bike map that was put together and distributed by Champaign County bikes that we’ve been giving out, and this has all the safe bike routes listed on it.”
Regarding road safety concerns, Campus Bike Center recommends avoiding “busy” streets on campus, considering the increased traffic.
“We’d certainly recommend riding on quieter side streets and less busy major streets because traffic is just a lot higher,” Benjamin said.
According to Benjamin, bike and road safety depends on both the awareness of cyclists and infrastructure on campus.
“Infrastructure improvements are always welcome, but awareness and education about how to ride safely is important as well,” Benjamin said. “Transportation systems are kind of an ecosystem of cars, cyclists, pedestrians, buses — all play a role in creating a safe transportation system.”
Sarthak Prasad met with Warren Lavey, Matt Musipa, Emily Sajkowski, and Habeeb Adekola on Feb 8, 2023. We discussed the concession agreement and the dissolution of the Bike Share IGA between the City of Champaign, City of Urbana, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and to incorporate the relevant information from the IGA to the concession agreement.
The student group will share the draft amendment during the next week's meeting. Sarthak Prasad will get them a contract template (ZipCar) for reference. The student group will send the final draft by Friday, February 24, 2023, so that Sarthak Prasad can do a final review before sending it to the Contract Specialist by Feb 28, 2023.
Sarthak & I met on 2/13/2023 to discuss the Bicycle Friendly University Application. Sarthak clarified that I'm currently the only person updating the application. We went over some questions that we'll have to inquired Chad about. We also found answers to some of the questions.
Alec McKay & Sarthak Prasad met on 1/30/2023 and 2/8/2023 to discuss Alec's progress on reading over the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) related materials.
Alec read and took notes on the 2015 BFU application and the 2015 BFU Feedback. His notes are attached below.
1/25 Meeting Recap:
2/1 Meeting Recap
Sarthak Prasad met with Warren Lavey on Feb 3, 2023 to discuss the possibility of working with some students from Department of Law to work on the amendment of the University's concession agreement with Veo. Matt Musipa, Habeeb Adekola, and Emily Sajkoski showed interest in this project. The initial introductory meeting was held on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 with all mentioned to discuss the project and the timeline. F&S TDM has to provide the Contract Specialist with the suggested amendments by the end of February.
Sarthak and Ethan met in person to discuss Ethan’s updates on his readings on the former 2014 Bicycle Plan. He has completed his review of the 2014 Plan and will delve into the progress reports and updates reports published in 2019, 2022, and 2023 for next week to see which projects have been completed, changed, or left unfinished indefinitely. He will also review the feedback from the League of American Bicyclists based on the University’s Bronze Bicycle Friendly Status awarded in 2019. The goal is to receive Gold Status this August, if not in 2027 because the review is done every 4 years. A main aspect of the 2024 Bicycle Plan will be to achieve Platinum Status by 2031. Sarthak also assured Ethan that many of the projects of the 2014 plan have since been completed which will be seen in the update/progress reports. Ethan’s to do list is to finish his readings relevant to the 2024 Bicycle Plan, such as the update reports. Also, he must begin preparing to consolidate the work he and Sarthak have done. This will then be presented to Sarthak’s bosses which will focus on the plan for this semester and the next two semesters.