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  1. U of I promoted to Silver-Level BFU Status

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status

    The University of Illinois has been promoted to Silver-level Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) status as of October 17th, 2019, for taking significant steps to address health and environmental challenges by creating safer, more welcoming and accessible areas for people who bike. The U of I is one of 94 colleges and universities with Silver or higher BFU status.

    Some of the university’s recent initiatives that contributed to receiving Silver certification were the publication of the 2014 Campus Bike Plan, bike path and bike lane improvement projects, bicycle rack parking upgrades and additions (11,635 bike parking spaces in 2019), the launch of the Bike at Illinois website, the start of VeoRide bike sharing availability in 2018, and the improvement of bicycle route networks through the MCORE project.

    Dr. Mohamed Attalla, executive director of Facilities & Services, said, “Achieving this well-earned award is due to the dedication and persistence of many individuals within the campus community collaborating to increase bike programs, improve infrastructure, and encourage others to get involved and help reach strategic active transportation goals.”

    See Facilities & Services announcement of this news.

    Attached Files: 

  4. Weekly Update - Bike Maintenance 101, First visit free

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, We’ve slowed down enough to offer the First Visit Free option again, which has its plusses and minuses but is at least consistent with our website/literature on the topic.

    Last week we had our Bike Maintenance 101 class. Three attendees came, despite the cold and rain, so that was awesome. I think all of them had issues with their own bikes that precipitated their interest in the class and two of them said they’d be back to fix their bikes. A success!
    One bike was on the donation rack this morning. Another small bike but of good quality that’ll hopefully fix up quickly.
    I got in touch with someone from the Fine and Applied Arts to see if there’s any interest in using some of our scrap metal to keep it out of the dump but that was a dead end. I’ll still try to think of ways to keep our scrap pile a little smaller since we’re frequently at-or-beyond capacity. I think overall, we don’t have enough venues through which to repurpose a bicycle beyond B-a-B and Shop Builds. Something to think about.
    This week if we’re slow I’ll have the student staff do a deep dive on our used parts inventory to get a better picture of just how many bike parts we’re storing here. Additionally, we have our What to Wear info session at ARC on Thursday evening from 7 – 8p.

     

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 82
    Sales: $677.75
    Memberships: 14 for $420
    Tire/tubes: 14 for $79

     

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  8. Planning to revise web presence

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas

    Sara Mason, Chantelle Hicks, and Morgan White discussed revisions to the Bee Campus USA web presence. For ease of maintenance, the iCAP Portal seems to be a more friendly process for providing updates and keeping the web content current and active.  Sara could do the entries this year, and future students could do entries in the future years.  The updates can also be shared on other websites, when requested.  Sara will bring this idea back to the student committee, for a decision.

  9. Committee meeting tomorrow

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA
    CEE Project Based Learning (PBL)

    This meeting is open to anyone on campus interested in supporting local pollinators.

     

    We are meeting tomorrow from 1:30-2:30 at F&S with both advisors and students from the Bee Campus USA committee.  Chantelle sent the invite, but there are more people than can fit in the room she sent, so please join us in the Garage and Car Pool building conference room.  This is in the building at the southwest corner of Oak and Kirby. 

     

    Our agenda is as follows:

    • Overview of the Bee Campus USA 2018 submitted plan (attached)
    • review the draft signage for small Bee Campus USA signs and proposed placement (attached)
    • discuss a student project related to future expansion of the Pollinatarium, with guest Namita Johri
    • review annual renewal requirements (see attached)

     

    Attached Files: 

  11. Weekly Update - Light the Night, Fix-a-Flat, Bike Maintenance 101

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Much like the weather, we’ve been starting off cold and slow most days and heating up by the end. We’ve been weaving in and out of our FVF policy as I’ve felt bad turning people away when the shop is empty. But then, of course, in a blink of an eye we’re All Stands Full and members are waiting for stand time, which seems unfair.
     

    We had Light The Night on Thursday and that was a success from what I saw of it. Two CBC staffers helped out with the event in my absence as the shop was too busy for me to be able to get away for the whole event.
     

    We also had our Fix-a-Flat class on Friday. We had one participant. He was eager, engaged and said he’d be back for the next class, which was great.
    This week we have our Bike Maintenance 101 class on Friday and I’ll be doing a training with a new hire.
     

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 80
    Sales: $2,108
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $640
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $400
    Tires/tubes: 15 for $59

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  12. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    This past week, I replied to Savannah Feher of ISTC's questions on the recycling FAQ that she is developing. I also consulted with Morgan White on possible campus contacts for additional information to provide to Savannah.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  16. VeoRide September 2019 ridership overview

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bike Share with Veo

    There were 400 e-bikes and nearly 75 pedal bikes in operation. Please see the September Report below:

    September Rides: 36,426

    • E‐bikes – 31,976
    • Peddle bikes – 4,449

    September User Growth: 2,203
    September Average Ride Time: 8 minutes
    Average Rides per day: 1,214
    Total Ridership: 337,704
    Total Userbase: 18,567

    Reports to remove bikes from Private property: 23
    Reports of improper parking: 25

    Below are answers to questions brought up at our last meeting on campus:

    1. Vandalism – Here at UIUC the vandalism rate on the peddle bikes was 1 out of 15 bikes. We consider vandalism any damage the is inconsistent with normal ware and tear. (Baskets breaking off, thrown in creek/river, destroying tires etc.) So far with the e‐bikes we have 10 total that have been vandalized. A much lower rate.
    2. Check on donation availability – At this time the company views donation as a great idea but the liability if something happens down the road is too much of a risk at this time.
    3. Number of scrapped bikes – 215peddle bikes
    Attached Files: 

  17. eGen010 Geothermal Feasibility Study - Returned

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal on Campus
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Energy iCAP Team

    Andy Stumpf provided the following response for eGEN010, "Yes. The summary will be compiled as part of a 'Living Labs' project proposed by the Illinois Water Resources Center."

     

    See the iWG Assessment of eGen010 Geothermal Feasibility Study here.

    See the SWATeam recommendation eGen010 Geothermal Feasibility Study here

  18. Slap Wristbands from McKinley Health Center

    Associated Project(s): 
    Light the Night

    Jennifer Carson from McKinley Health Center provided 400 (200 each for two locations) reflective orange slap bands for the Light the Night event that have imprinted on them our 24/7 Dial-A-Nurse. These are great for being seen in the evening hours.

    Jen dropped them off in Sarthak's office at 9 am on October 3.

  20. note about biogas availability

    Associated Project(s): 
    Use Renewable Natural Gas

    I checked again with our market advisor for natural gas purchases, and they are not aware of anyone that produces biogas and injects it into the gas pipeline. They are going to do some additional checking and will follow back up if they find something.

    The did note that we could purchase environmental assets (RECs) associated with renewable gas that is produced. They are going to provide an overview summary of what this market looks like and what these type of RECs would cost.

    I also came across the attached website from DOE that I thought might interest you about renewable gas production.

    https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/natural_gas_renewable.html

    This site also have a link to a BioFuels atlas which was interesting as well.

    https://maps.nrel.gov/biofuels-atlas/?aL=p9sLVz%255Bv%255D%3Dt&bL=clight&cE=0&lR=0&mC=40.18307014852534%2C-91.58203125&zL=7

     

    Mike Larson

    Associate Director of Utilities Production, Facilities and Services

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