You are here

Projects Updates for theme: Transportation

  2. Weekly Update: Closed for Spring Break

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

  5. Sarthak's work at New Employee Orientation

    Associated Project(s): 
    Appropriately Staff Sustainable Transportation Efforts
    Appropriately Staff Zero Waste Efforts

    Attached is a Transportation Demand Management presentation created for Employee Orientation.

    Below is an email exchange between Morgan White and Sarthak Prasad on Sarthak's involvement in employee orientation:

    Hi Sarthak,

     

    Can you please provide a short statement here about what you for New Employee Orientation, including slides, topics, and time commitment.  We are looking to increase the F&S presence in new employee orientation, and I shared that you are already involved.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

    -------------------

    Hi Morgan,

     

    Please see attached the slides that I use for the IHR New Employee Orientation. It is a 30-45 minute commitment for me per month, including travel time. These orientations are held on the first Monday of every month, and I talk for about 15-20 minutes. The orientations are usually at the Conference Center, but sometimes they have it virtually.

     

    I will be updating the slides for next month’s orientation to include It’s Your MTD and Commuter Program information. I have been attending these since fall 2021.

     

    I had also worked on slides for Sustainability on campus, but you had asked me to wait before you reviewed it. Thank you,

    Sarthak 

    Attached Files: 

  7. Weekly Update: Open M-F, Closed for Spring Break

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

  8. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 2/23 and 2/24

    Associated Project(s): 
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    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. 

    Attached Files: 

  9. Clean vehicle tax credits

    Associated Project(s): 
    UI Ride
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Decrease Emissions from UI Fleet

    Following is Pete Varney's response to the question from Morgan, "In addition to the Ford Lightning EVs, could we potentially get EV versions of the turtle-top 15-person vans?  Also, is there any discussion about getting Hybrid buses for UI Ride?"

    When discussing EV we have to look at manufacturer availability and operational needs. Car Pool vehicles, 15-pass vans, need to be able to operate both locally and on extended trips ruling out EV due to range restrictions.

    We won’t be looking to replace the first UI Ride bus until FY24/25. We can explore hybrid, but this class of vehicle is different from MTD hybrid buses. Electric may be an option. When the time comes, we’ll discuss with the System office as they put the $$ into UI Ride.

    Thank you,

    Pete

  10. Sarthak & I (Alec) met to discuss the 2023 Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) Application

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus

    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.

    Attached Files: 

  11. Weekly Update: Close to M-F hours

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

  12. Transportation iCAP Team Meeting 2/24/2023

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Fleet Replacement Plans

    The Transportation iCAP Team met on Friday, February 24th, 2023 to hear about upcoming research on electric vehicles on campus, discuss updates to bike storage projects, and discuss actions to promote fleet replacement plans on campus.

    Watch the recording here

    Attached Files: 

  13. Sarthak & I (Alec) met to discuss the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) application

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus

    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.

    Attached Files: 

  14. Weekly Update: Build-a-bikes completed, increasing number of bikes on the floor

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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

  15. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 2/15

    Associated Project(s): 
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    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.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Daily Illini article: MTD, campus resources respond to recent cyclist collision

    Associated Project(s): 
    Improve Reporting and Metrics for Bicycles
    Enforcement for Safe Cycling

    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 A+student+races+past+on+a+bike+on+South+Wright+Street+in+one+of+the+University%E2%80%99s+many+bike+lanes.+
       

    Sidney Malone

    A student races past on a bike on South Wright Street in one of the University’s many bike lanes.

    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.”

     

    laylin2@dailyillini.com

  17. Law student group - weekly meeting 2/15/23

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bike Share with Veo

    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.

  19. Alec & Sarthak Meet to Discuss Alec's progress on the BFU App

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    2014 Campus Bike Plan [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus

    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.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Weekly capstone meetings: Meeting from 1/25 and 2/1

    Associated Project(s): 
    2024 Campus Bike Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    1/25 Meeting Recap:

    • Sarthak introduces the project to Ethan in their first meeting via zoom. They are expected to develop the planning process for the development of the 2024 Bicycle Plan, which is expounding upon the former 2014 Bicycle Plan. Next school year, Ethan would work alongside Sarthak in developing the plan itself. 
    • Firstly, Sarthak wants Ethan to read all of the relevant readings for understanding the context of this project, especially the 2014 Bicycle Plan and report/updates on that plan since then. Sarthak introduces the iCAP portal to Ethan and grants him access to the reports/to make edits to the developing projects. 
    • Ethan to start the readings before the next meeting on (2/1).

     

    2/1 Meeting Recap

    • Sarthak and Ethan met via zoom to discuss Ethan’s progress in familiarizing himself with the 2014 Bicycle Plan and its other relevant documents and reports. 
    • Ethan read 30 pages of the 2014 Plan so far, and had two questions for Sarthak. One was in regard to the scope of the 2024 Plan’s recommendations. Specifically, Ethan was wondering to what degree will their 2024 Plan discuss campus connectivity with the greater Champaign-Urbana areas. Sarthak said that he would need to get a confirmation from his colleagues, but he believes that the scope of this plan should only encompass the campus district. This considers the main campus, but also the adjacent northwest area that contains mostly residential and commercial spaces. This campus district stretches to the northbound-southbound railroad tracks west of campus and up to University Avenue. 
    • Ethan’s second question was in regard to the goals listed in the executive summary versus the desired outcomes listed in the introduction. The executive summary lists the primary goals of the entire plans while the introduction’s outcomes describe the specific goals of the bikeway network improvement project. 
    • Sarthak shows Ethan how to post updates to the 2024 Bicycle Plan on the iCAP portal. Ethan will begin posting his weekly updates based on their weekly meetings there. 
    • Sarthak advised Ethan to finish reading the 2014 Bicycle Plan by next week’s meeting (2/8) and to finish the rest of the relevant readings/reports by the end of the month (February). 
    Attached Files: 

Pages