Please see attached the ridership information for November 2021.

All, The Kid’s Bike Giveaway event was held on Saturday afternoon. We gave away 60 bikes and still have 20 left. Ideally, we would’ve given them all away, but no one left disappointed, which is very much worth the extra time and effort of moving 20 bikes back into the shop. We had 7 people volunteering, so it was quick work. We’ll put the word out this week that anyone who didn’t get a bike is welcome to stop by the Urbana Bike Project during open hours (Wed/Thurs 6:30 – 9; Sat/Sun by appointment) to pick out a bike from our leftovers. Depending on volunteer availability off-hours pick-ups might be doable, too.

Thanks to everyone who helped with the event and helped spread the word! We were able to give away 15 more bikes than we did last year.

Last week I was finally able to fully rebuild the outdoor bike pump with new and heavier duty parts that should last the winter. So far no one’s tried to drive their car up to the pump and air their car tires like they did when the station was by the curb on Pennsylvania. 

This week I’ll turn our attentions to refurbishing. We should have a half dozen bikes on the sales floor by Friday. We’ve worked through the easy fixes and are left with the fun stuff: dusty, old 3 speeds, 10 speed Schwinns and the like. Now we can start in earnest building up our stock for the spring rush—although, with the unseasonably warm temps this week, we may be too busy to make much headway. A good problem to have.

We’re closing for Winter Break after Friday. Reopening date is TBD.

The numbers:

Visitors:
Sales: $71*
Memberships: 1 for $30
Tires/tubes: 3 for $13

*We’ve reinstated the First Visit Free policy which deflates our sales numbers compared to our mandated memberships for the summer/fall.

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

The Transportation team met briefly on December 3rd, 2021 to discuss a recommendation of members for a potential Electric Vehicle Task Force, and a potential recommendation for the Fleet replacement plans. Sarthak Prasad also gave a brief update on the Commuter Program which appears to be on track.

Meeting Materials are attached.

15 metal signs to promote bicycle registration have been installed. These locations are:

1. Snyder Hall
2. Weston Hall
3. Bike Shelter (new) by Flagg Hall
4. Nugent Hall
5. Hopkins Hall – covered bike parking
6. Bousfield Hall – covered bike parking
7. South of Wassaja Hall – covered bike parking
8. Busey Evans
9. Allen Hall
10. LAR
11. ISR (new bike racks on North side)
12. ISR - North East location - 64 bike racks
13. Illini Union South
14. Illini Union North
15. ARC

All, Things are definitely slowing down and our visitor numbers/sales reflect that. We’re closed this week for Thanksgiving Break but I’ll be working a couple days to catch up on the Kids Bike donations. Over the weekend, we got mention in one of the campus email newsletters, so that’s good. I’ve also arranged for the event to be mentioned in some other newsletters/email blasts going out in the interim between now and the day of the event. I’ll also be getting in touch with some local news stations, since I think that boosted last year’s donation/turn out.

The official details for the Kids Bike event are:

The Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with the U of I Campus Bike Center, is hosting a Kids’ Bike Giveaway this holiday season.

We are currently accepting donations of all kids’ and teen bikes, regardless of condition, and then refurbishing them to give back to young folks in the community!

Donations can be made at the Urbana Bike Project (202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana) or at the Campus Bike Center (51 E. Gregory Dr., Champaign). Please call (217) 469-5126 or email contact@thebikeproject.org to arrange a donation.

*Giveaway Event*

Date: Saturday, December 11th, 2021
Time: 1 pm – 3pm or until we run out of bikes
Location: Urbana Bike Project (202 S. Broadway Ave., Urbana)
Details: first come, first served; one bike per kid, and they must be present to pick out their bike.

This week I’m only here Mon/Tues but will wrench on the kids bikes we have—we got three more donated on Friday—then it’s off for the holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The numbers:

Visitors: 20
Sales: $179.50
Memberships: 4 for $120

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

All, Slowing down a little now that it’s getting legit colder. Visitor numbers held a little longer than expected—maybe hinting at a tectonic shift in our community’s biking habits? I hope so!

Last week I got a count on all the Kids’ Bikes we have at both spaces and started my staff (and volunteers) in on rehabbing the ones we have here at CBC. Once we’re done with those, I’ll move what’s at Urbana over here. We already have around 40 bikes and we haven’t done an honest push for donations yet. I’ll meet with Campus Rec marketing this week to work up a plan for how best to publicize the event.

We’ve got a couple staffers moving on at the end of this week but have 3 new staffers in the hiring process. Coupled with less demand, we’ll be able to train up and onboard our new hires nicely. Winter is always my preferred season for onboarding.

The numbers:

Visitors: 31
Sales: $845.50
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $600
Memberships: 3 for $90
Tires/tubes: 4 for $22

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

Bike at Illinois has produced a video for 6 Basic Things to Know About Biking on Campus. Credit: Joanna Raimo (Campus Recreation)

Watch the video here: Bike at Illinois Video: 6 Basic Things to Know About Biking on Campus

What do giant grasses, micro grids, deep wells, and hydrogen-powered buses all have in common? They are all part of a clean energy future that is being imagined, created, and tested here at UIUC. The breadth of our energy research portfolio, across all of the campus and the broader C-U community, is truly impressive. Here are just a few examples:

Solar Farm 2.0 will soon be home to a newly awarded, $10M project led by Madhu Khanna to optimize the design of "Agrivoltaics," or fields with both crops and solar panels to maintain crop production, produce renewable energy, and increase farm profitability. A few miles to the east, the Energy Farm boasts extensive test plots to study how to grow and use plants as biofuel. The farm is using a biomass boiler to replace propane as the fuel source for its main research greenhouse. The Energy Farm is also home to one of dozens of geothermal wells on campus that are helping scientists like Yu-Feng Lin develop better geothermal systems, while on the north side of campus, the new Campus Instructional Facility is heated and cooled with a state-of-the art geothermal system. Nuclear power is expected to play an important role in meeting our campus ICAP goals, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hosted a hearing last week to seek input on our plans to site a next-generation, micronuclear reactor near the Abbott Power Plant. Integrating renewable energy sources into the power grid presents unique challenges, and Illinois power system researchers, including Alejandro Domínguez-García, are working to develop microgrid technology to address issues of reliability and resilience. Meanwhile, researchers such as Petros Sofronis are working on a bold new vision for national leadership in the emerging hydrogen economy. (It might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but the CUMTD just launched two hydrogen-powered, zero-emission buses—the first in the state!) 

There is only one way I can wrap up a message about our campus energy research: The future looks bright, indeed!

Sincerely,

Susan