You are here

Projects Updates for theme: Transportation

  1. Weekly Update: Slow week; Outside event with Urbana Parks District; Kid's Bike Giveaway

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Slower week as per usual with the coming of fall. We’re still mostly sold out of bikes as the ones we have been getting in are finicky and in need of uncommon parts.

    Last week, I tentatively set up an outside event for the spring with the Urbana Parks District. More details as that event develops.

    This week we’ll also get to planning for our participation/role in this winter’s Kid’s Bike Giveaway. We’ve certainly got the bikes for it!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 32
    Sales: $366
    Memberships: 6 for $180
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $35

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  2. EV Procurement Law in Illinois

    Associated Project(s): 
    Electric Vehicle (EV) Task Force
    Use Electric Vehicles (EV)
    Fleet Replacement Plans

    EO 2108, ELECTRIC VEHICLE PROCUREMENT. The executive order provides that the state shall: (1) develop and implement a program for procurement of electric and other low emission or zero emission vehicles for state purposes; (2) establish a State Fleet Working Group convened by the Department of Central Management Services and composed of representatives from the Department of Transportation, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the Illinois Commerce Commission; (3) set forth the responsibilities of the working group; (4) direct the Department of Central Management Services, in conjunction with other state agencies, to develop a plan to install electric vehicle chargers on state property; and (5) direct the Illinois State Board of Education to collaborate with the Department of Transportation and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to develop tools and provide information to assist school districts in assessing the benefits and costs of zero emission bus options when replacing school buses. The executive order became effective 22 APR 21.

    https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2108&GAID=16&DocTypeID=EO&SessionID=110&GA=102

    https://www2.illinois.gov/Pages/Executive-Orders/ExecutiveOrder2021-08.a...

  3. Walkability Audit: Week 9 meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, Oct 19, 22, 23, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to work on the Training Manual for the Walkability Audit. 

    The training manual is designed for the volunteers to understand the project better before starting their audits next week. The training manual entails the following sections (more details included in the attached word doc):

    1. Introduction to the Project

    2. Maps of the site of intervention

    3. Directions for volunteers

    4. Understanding the Walkability Audit questionnaire- Each question explained with figures for key concepts

    5. Understanding the Deficiency Reporting questionnaire- Categories of deficiencies with an example of how to collect data

    The draft manual has been sent to everyone involved in the project for their perusal before finally sending it to the volunteers.

    Volunteer list has also been processed. They have been divided into teams and assigned map blocks to audit. The list of teams along with the training manual will be sent to all the volunteers shortly after 26th Oct ( Tuesday's meeting).

  4. Vision Zero - Final report presentation by Ray and Jacob + meeting recording

    Associated Project(s): 
    Vision Zero
    Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC)

    Dr. Ray Benekohal and Jacob Mathew met with Stacey DeLorenzo, Sarthak Prasad, and Stacy Gloss, and they presented the findings from their Vision Zero project in 2020-21. They collected information on campus locations with

    1. Potential problems
    2. Near misses
    3. Collisions

    They received more than 500 responses, of which nearly 475 were on campus. They analyzed the crash report data from IDOT from 2014-18, and they also organized two focus group studies.

    Please see attached the final presentation and the full report. See the full report from this study online at: https://uofi.box.com/s/zyuqv8p11tleiuqzsvwge3utsuuutipp

    See the meeting recording (45 minute presentation) here: https://uofi.box.com/s/wjybgfpjdz1nyl6hahw09utub8162ynd

    See the preliminary report shared during CTAC Fall 2020 presentation

    Attached Files: 

  6. Weekly Update: Fixing bike pump; fixing bicycles; student employment

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Last Tuesday we had our Green Quad Day event. We had a few people stop by later in the week after talking with them and one potential student application for employment. We were also generously resupplied with clothes for making into rags. (Thanks, Morgan!) The beautiful weather was certainly an added perk.

    On Thursday I picked up the remaining bikes from the warehouse that are worth our time. We’ll get to rehabbing those bikes this week. There are a good 20 – 30 bikes left there that are destined for the scrap heap. Unfortunately, 3 of the 10 bikes didn’t pass even a basic inspection so they’ll be fodder for parts.

    We’re currently very low on used 26” tires. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

    This week I’ll also get the ball moving on fixing the outdoor pump, which is broken again.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 40
    Sales: $586.50
    Bike (refurb): 1 for $190
    Memberships: 7 for $210
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $32

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  8. Walkability Audit: Week 8 meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Tuesday, October 12, 2021, Sarthak briefly presented the Walkability study in the general monthly SPO meeting of Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning (DURP). The presentation aimed at getting as many students to volunteer for the project as possible. Project description, timeline and expectations from the volunteers were made clear during the meeting. The 'Call for volunteers' prompt has been sent out to various departments in their newsletters, group chats, course announcements etc. So far 32 students have registered to be volunteers.

    Call for volunteers- sign-up sheet link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14bxthUQCLzZp8Yc0eBJPrnrHpfuQYOyKMzzfIvC...

    On Thursday, October 14, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to work on the Training Manual for the Walkability Audit. This manual is designed as a guide to help volunteers correctly perform the walkability audit. Training sessions for volunteers will be held at the end of the month of October after finalising the draft.

     

     

  9. Archive Description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    Old description:

    The Wellness Center on campus is working to promote a Culture of Wellness for our University students, faculty, and staff.  This office has been collecting information on the Walkability of campus pathways.  By working with volunteers to perform walking audits, the Wellness Center is collecting detailed comments and notes about walking around campus.  This information will be shared with Facilities and Services and incorporated into project prioritization for sidewalk improvements.

    http://wellness.illinois.edu/iWalk/walkFeatured.html

     

    This description has been moved to the Background

  10. Weekly Update: Green Quad Day; Abandoned bicycles

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    All, Slower week, which was welcome. Sold a couple bikes and were able to get a handle on the influx of drop off repairs. The Green Quad Day event that was supposed to happen on Thursday was rescheduled to Tuesday, so we’ll staff for that event and hobnob with the larger sustainability community.

    I’ll make a run out to the abandoned bike emporium this week, too, and see if there’s anything worth our time. Was planning that for last week but it didn’t happen.

    We’ve got a couple bikes in the shop build queue, but I’ll grab a few from Urbana unless we get more donations this week.

    The numbers:


    Visitors: 35
    Sales: $850.50
    Bike (refurb): 3 for $490
    Memberships: 5 for $150
    Tires/tubes: 5 for $20

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  11. Walkability Audit: Week 7 meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Friday, October 09, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to work on the Training Manual for the Walkability Audit. 

    The training manual is designed for the volunteers which will include background information about the project, directions for executing the audit in an efficient way and details about each question with graphics for clarity.

  12. America Walks webinar: Walking and Walking Campaigns

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Walking
    Vision Zero

    America Walks sponsored a webinar in 2016 about Walking and Walking Campaigns. Here is the link to this webinar: https://vimeo.com/180652941

    The 1st discussion was about a Walking Campaign from Seattle. Basically, they started a campaign called “Walktober”, which had a goal of recording 25,000 miles on foot during the month of October. That is nearly equivalent to cover the world, hence their slogan “Walk the World.”

    The 2nd discussion was about Vision Zero from San Diego. What to look for when creating a VZ campaign, how to formulate it, and ideas for how to implement it.

  13. Weekly Update: Bike Center tours; Green Quad Day

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Starting to slow down a bit. This week’ll be absolutely perfect riding weather: cool but not cold. Still get folks asking for bikes every day—yet to get any 4’ 11” folks or 6’ 3” racing folks for the tall and small bikes we have, though. We’ve got 3 more that should be for sale this week sometime. Soon, we’ll be having the “it’s too cold to ride” conversation with people. No bad weather, just bad gear and so on.

    Had a class come by on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to tour the Bike Center and I talked about our operations, history of CBC, and the like. Always nice to get people into our space who might not otherwise have reason to visit.

    Last week I talked with Parking about the remainder of the bikes at the warehouse. I’ll make a trip out there this week to see if there’s anything worth our trouble.

    A gentleman came in looking for a small pin for his vintage brake levers and was able to find a workable solution in our used parts bins. He generously donated $10 for his 10 minutes of digging while bemoaning that regular bike shops could only offer to replace the brake levers outright. A happy customer who understands and appreciates our value and services—always a good interaction!

    This Thursday is the Green Quad Day event, from 10  - 4p. Will be good to get our name out there with other environmental/sustainability efforts on campus.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 64
    Sales: $1,052.60
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $440
    Memberships: 8 for $240
    Tires/tubes: 10 for $76

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  14. Walkability Audit: Week 7 meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On September 30, 2021, Sarthak and Sutapa met with F&S-TDM, F&S Grounds, F&S FIR, and faculty from the Urban Planning department to keep everyone updated regarding the Walkability Audit. The Survey Questionnaire and Deficiency report drafts were discussed and sent out for perusal and inputs to everyone involved in the project. Inputs are expected by October 11, 2021 to move forward with finalizing the drafts.

  15. Transportation iCAP Team September 2021 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Sustainably Manage Transportation Systems
    Reduce Driving on Campus
    Commuter Program: Bus, Bike, and Hike
    Encourage Telecommuting

    The Transportation iCAP team met via zoom from 9:00 A.M.-10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, September 29th. This meeting featured an update on proposed telecommuting policies from Doctor James Gallaher, discussions on the iCAP Objectives Assessment and iCAP celebration, and a general review of the goals and projects of the committee.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Walkability Audit: Week 6 meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Thursday and Friday, September 23 and Spetember 24, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to edit the Survey Questionnaire of the Walkability Audit. The Deficiency Report parameters were finalized during this meeting. The creation of the Volunteer training manual process is scheduled to start after this meeting.

    The draft documents mentioned above have been sent to the members involved in the Walkability study for their inputs. The inputs are expected to be received by Oct 11, 2021.

    Next week, Thursday September 30th, a common meeting is scheduled and open to all members of the project to discuss the progress.

  18. Weekly Update: Bike to Work Day; Light the Night; Grand Re-opening

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Light the Night
    C-U Bike to Work Day

    All, Heck of a week we just had. Tuesday was Bike To Work Day and Light The Night; both events went well. CBC as a LTN location was not as popular as the other two spots but we are still only in our second year of offering this location; the other two spots have been there for over 10 years and have a lot more passers-by. I do appreciate the convenience of not having to go anywhere for the event, though!

    BTWD was a decent turn out. We had around 30 people stop by to pick up their shirts. iSEE shot some footage for a promo video. I also talked with a few profs/pro staff folks who said this was their first bike commute, which was great. Hopefully they’ll stick with it! It also reminded me I need to brush up on my beginning commuter tips…

    Our Grand Opening event was a success. We got to show off our space to quite a few people who’d never been by before and a handful of regulars that were duly impressed with the upgrade from our old space.

    This week I’ve got a new student worker starting, so that will be a welcomed addition to the team. I’ll also pick up some bikes from TBP for rebuild as we’re flush out of decent Shop Builds. Demand has waned a bit or word is spreading that we’re out of bikes so fewer folks are coming by—either way, we’ll get a few more fixed up this week.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: TBD
    Sales: $513.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
    Memberships: 5 for $150
    Tire/tubes: 6 for $19.50

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  20. Walkability Audit: Week 5 meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Tuesday September 17, 2021, Sutapa and Sarthak met to discuss the progress of the Survey Questionnaire of the Walkability Audit. Several walkability toolkits were identified as potential references for creating a consolidated survey questionnaire. First draft of the new questionnaire was discussed and corrections were identified.

    The survey questions as well as the Training manual will be finalized by Sept end.

Pages