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Projects Updates for theme: Transportation

  1. Invitation to "It's Your MTD Too"

    Associated Project(s): 
    It's Your MTD Too!

    Learn more about MTD services at the Siebel Center for Design on March 25.

    Join F&S and the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) at the Siebel Center for Design (room 0060 – lower level) on Friday, March 25, from noon to 1:30 p.m., to find out more about the community's world-class transit system and then take a ride on the bus.

    A presentation entitled "It's Your MTD Too!" will showcase MTD services and will be followed by a short trip across the campus on the "24 Link." Space on the bus is limited, so reserve your spot by registering at https://go.fs.illinois.edu/MTD.

    Attendees will learn how to do the following:

    • Plan trips and review campus route combinations
    • Install third-party apps and join Text-My-Stop
    • Load bikes at designated stops
    • Register for an MTD account
    • Contact SafeRides
    • Access services with an i-card or at iStops

    Event organizers will also be available to answer questions and provide additional public transportation resources. F&S is committed to further developing and encouraging the use of active transportation modes that promote walking, bicycling, and public transit options, which aligns with the university's strategic initiatives.

    For more details, contact Sustainable Transportation Assistant Sarthak Prasad sprasad9@illinois.edu, 217-300-9575.

    Attached Files: 

  2. Weekly Update: Spring Break; M-F from 3/28

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Visitor numbers ticking upward in line with the thermometer—Friday’s snowfall notwithstanding.  

    We’re closed this week for Spring Break and hitting the ground running when we return. We’ve got Gender Aware Shop Hours on Thursday and our Urbana Parks District event on Saturday. From there it’s back open M-F. 

    I’ll only be working today and tomorrow before taking a few days for myself. I’ll finish up a few more shop builds during my abbreviated week in advance of warmer weather post-spring break.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 23
    Sales: $358.55

    Bike (refurb): 2 for $280
    Tire/tubes: 5 for $16

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  5. Weekly Update: Retraining Staff; Spring is coming!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Warm weather last week brought in a good number of folks. On Friday we even had a wait for repair stands.

    Of the seven shop build bikes I safety checked last week zero passed inspection. This’ll be a good opportunity to retrain staff up on what constitutes a safely functional bike.

    Elsewhere, it was our first week being mask-optional but elective compliance was near 100% and we had zero conflicts with folks about the change in policy.

    This week I’ll finish up the aforementioned seven bikes, interview some prospective employees, and game plan for post-spring break when things are really picking up. Spring is coming!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 24
    Sales: $567.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $170
    Memberships: 7 for $210

    Tire/tubes: 7 for $26

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  7. Weekly Update: New hires

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, We’ve got a backlog of bikes in need of test rides/final tune-ups that I’ll happily attend to with the warmer weather this week. We’ve got a new batch of hires starting as well.

    This week I’ve got trainings with staff and I’ll start game-planning with my team for our ramped-up programming for March/April. Warm weather = more bikes.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 17
    Sales: $356.50

    Bike (refurb): 1 for $160
    Build-a-Bike: 1 for $30
    Memberships:  2 for $60

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  8. Update on Charging Stations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    From: Robert O'Daniell <rodaniell@att.net>
    Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2022 5:05 PM
    To: White, Morgan; Slezak, Paul
    Cc: DeLorenzo, Stacey; Prasad, Sarthak
    Subject: I guess I spoke too soon Re: I’m happy to report

    The ChargePoint locations at B4, D22 and E14 are all down. Disappeared from the ChargePoint app and will not charge. (Discovered Sunday noonish at E14 when I failed to begin charge. Standing beside the charger the App said no chargers nearby) Checked the other locations. All three locations have same message on the screen.

    Robert K. O'Daniell
    Photographer Emeritus-News-Gazette
    PO Box 2085
    Champaign, IL 61825
    217-352-1493

    Attached Files: 

  9. Transportation iCAP Team February Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Walkability Study
    Multi-Modal Transportation Study [ARCHIVED]
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Sustainably Manage Transportation Systems

    The Transportation iCAP team met on Thursday, 2/25/2022 at 4:00 P.M. and discussed the following topics:

    • Scoring for the upcoming walkability audit
    • Questions for an upcoming mode choice survey

    Further details are in attached documents.

    Attached Files: 

  10. Update on Charging Stations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    From: Robert O'Daniell <rodaniell@att.net>
    Sent: Friday, February 25, 2022 1:43 PM
    To: White, Morgan; Slezak, Paul
    Cc: DeLorenzo, Stacey; Prasad, Sarthak
    Subject: I’m happy to report

    The chargers at B4 are back - showing up on the Where to Charge apps again. (Began Feb 24th)

    The damaged screen still not replaced at D22 ( supply chain issue ? )

    On an odd note in the last week or so – I failed in an attempt to charge at E14. Possibly a weather issue and there are indications that others have indeed charged. I have not yet tried again. Possibly a one time issue.

    During that attempt I became aware of some kind of issue with 3G on all three of those charging stations. ATT shut down Feb 22 and Verizon and T-mobile will both shut down 3G by the end of the year. All 3 ChargePoint locations indicate “Illini charging / Off network 1” and a warning message. I did drive by and cars are indeed charging at B4 and at D22 in spite of that message.

    ( images below )
    ——————
    As a retired person I’ve taken on the project of making it easier for people buy and transition to EVs. And to do what I can to improve the infrastructure needed for the EVs.

    Robert K. O'Daniell
    PO Box 2085
    Champaign, IL 61825
    217-493-8129

    Attached Files: 

  11. Walkability audit: Spring 2022, Meeting 5,6

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Feb 17 and 24, Sarthak and Sutapa met to discuss the scoring system of the General Walkability audit. 

    We prepared a comparative list of 2 scoring systems (0-5 scale scores and negative to 5 scale scores). The Transportation dept. group meeting on 24th February has an agenda to finalise our scoring system after discussion.

    We have also prepared a spreadsheet with all the results of the survey and formatted it in a way that has questions on each row and one survey per column of the audit. Instead of prioritizing our larger categories of parameters, we decided to assign priorities to each question as High, Medium and Low with weights of x3, x2 and x1 respectively.

    Map blocks 9, 10, 14, 22, 23 and 27 have no records yet. Part 2 of Data collection for the same will start in the last week of March when the weather gets pleasant to walk around. A call for volunteers has been made in the SPO meeting on February 23rd, 2022.

    Results of Transportation group meeting on 24th February:

    1. Scoring system was discussed and finalized

    • Questions are categorized into High, Medium and Low categories. A few questions are marked as Bonus questions with Low priority.
    • 0-5 scoring scale was chosen to represent the options. Negative points were discontinued.
    • Total addition of weighted scores at this stage was 65 points.

    2. Mass email to be sent out again to MUP students as a 'Call for Volunteers' next week.

    3. Chad and Justin to colour code the categories of the Deficiency reporting surveys in the coming weeks.

     

     

  12. Faculty/Staff Carpool Survey

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Commuter Program: Bus, Bike, and Hike
    iSEE Campus as a Living Lab (CALL) Projects

    The University of Illinois (UIUC) is interested in achieving its Climate Action Plan’s transportation sustainability goals by “reducing single-occupancy vehicle usage” and “promoting the use of electric vehicles” on campus. This survey is designed to evaluate the commuting needs of UIUC faculty and staff, so as to inform future actions on two fronts: (i) feasibility of developing a faculty/staff carpool service, and (ii) expanding electrified vehicle charging infrastructure on campus.

    Survey link: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/d7c2b2bf267245808ab12570323b5402 

  13. Weekly Update: Uni High Agora Days classes; Maintenance Class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week we held our Uni High Agora Days classes from Tues – Fri. It went very well with all the students engaged in learning and tinkering on the bikes. One student even said they’d return to volunteer, which was great. All 3 of the bikes were mostly done by week’s end. We also received some quality donations from a local bike shop and started overhauling those bikes for sale. I’ve also hired a new Program Assistant to help me out off-hours.

    This week I’ll be meeting with the Urbana Parks District to discuss our Maintenance class we’re collaborating on next month and getting more bikes ready for the sales floor. We’ll see how busy we are today with the very warm weather.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 11
    Sales: $91
    Memberships: 2 for $60

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  14. Mode Choice Survey 2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Driving on Campus

    After discussions internally at F&S (in the Sustainability and Transportation Demand Management departments) and then discussions with iSEE, it was agreed that the F&S TDM department will conduct the Mode Choice Survey in 2022 and every 3 years going forward.

  16. Weekly Update: Build-a-bike, Uni High Agora Days class

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Support Youth Sustainability

    All, Picked up 4 – 5 bikes from Urbana last week which were promptly claimed as B-a-Bs or tagged for shop builds. This week we have our Uni High Agora Days class coming in Tues – Fri. This will reduce our open hours on Wed/Fri to 4 – 6p.

    I’ll be picking up 5 bikes from Champaign Cycle on Tuesday afternoon, too. That should get us towards a good number of bikes on hand.

    The numbers:

    visitors: 10
    Sales: $324
    Bike (refurb): 1 for $180
    Memberships: 3 for $90

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  17. Walkability audit: Spring 2022, Meeting 3 & 4

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Feb 3rd and Feb 10th, Sarthak and Sutapa met to transport data from ArcGIS Survey 123 app to an excel spreadsheet. (attached)

    General Walkability study spreadsheet:

    1. Data was cleaned and transposed. Each question is located on a separate row. Each column accounts for 1 survey taken by a volunteer of the study.

    2. A separate sheet was designated for assigning each question with scores on a scale of 1-5.

    3. Using the function index and match, formulas were introduced for each survey answer in the database.

    A group meeting is scheduled in the end of February to finalize the scoring system of the map- blocks. The next step is to calculate averages for each map block and assign an average score out of 5 for each parameter.

     

    Incomplete survey: The Map blocks 9, 10, 14, 22, 23 and 27 have no records yet. When the weather conditions improve in March 2022, another round of data collection is scheduled to be undertaken by volunteers. Details regarding their training sessions will be shared soon.

     

     

  18. Weekly Update: Restocking bikes and parts for sale

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, With the snowstorm last week, we were closed on Wednesday but were able to reopen on Friday. Visitor numbers took a hit with a foot of snow and whiteout conditions (no surprise there). This week I’ll get some bikes from Urbana (snow derailed that plan last week). We’re down to the dregs of steel-rimmed 3 speed schwinns—bikes I’m not exactly comfortable selling in the dead of winter considering their compromised braking/stopping. Our donations of late have all been Walmart-level, unfortunately. We’ve got about 8 bikes on the sales floor as of now.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 16
    Sales: $180
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tire/tubes: 4 for $30

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  19. Walkability audit: Spring 2022, Meeting 2

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On 27th Jan, 2022, Sarthak and Sutapa met to discuss the scores of the general Walkability Questionnaire. The draft of the same was sent to all members involved in the audit. They will get back with suggestions/ corrections by the end of February when there will be another group meeting to finalize the scores.

    We also prepared an excel spreadsheet with each question and scores next to it for analyzing the data- attached.

     

    Attached files:

    1. [DRAFT] Updated scoring system- editable document

    2. [DRAFT] Scoring system and priority map

    3. Spreadsheet of General Walkability Questionnaire

  20. Walkability audit: Spring 2022, Meeting 2

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On 27th Jan, 2022, Sarthak and Sutapa met to discuss the scores of the general Walkability Questionnaire. The draft of the same was sent to all members involved in the audit. They will get back with suggestions/ corrections by the end of February when there will be another group meeting to finalize the scores.

    We also prepared an excel spreadsheet with each question and scores next to it for analyzing the data- attached.

     

    Attached files:

    1. [DRAFT] Updated scoring system- editable document

    2. [DRAFT] Scoring system and priority map

    3. Spreadsheet of General Walkability Questionnaire

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