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Projects Updates for Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles
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Identification of Abandoned Bicycles Complete
Associated Project(s):As of this morning, Emily, Max, and Ricardo have finished Phase 2 of the abandoned bicycles project for 2025, identifying abandoned bicycles. 262 bicycles were identified as abandoned and are prepared to be collected by the parking department.
Timeline and Task Responsibilities for Abandoned Bicycles Project
Associated Project(s):Please see attached the general timeline and task reponsibilities for the abandoned bicycles project every summer.
Started Identifying Abandoned Bicycles
Associated Project(s):Today, Sarthak and interns Emily and Max have started identifying abandoned bicycles (bicycles with the orange tag not removed) to prepare for the bicycles eventual collection by the Parking Department. This step of the process is expected to be finished later this week.
Abandoned Bicycles: Tagging and Identifying
Associated Project(s):Unwanted Bicycles Will Be Identified and Removed This Summer F&S and the Parking Department identify and collect unwanted bicycles left on campus at the beginning of the summer.
All bikes remaining on university property will be tagged this week with an orange sticker that reads, "Remove this tag by 6/30, or your bicycle will be removed." Any bicycle still displaying the sticker after that date will be impounded.
If you presently have a bike in a campus rack, shelter, or parking location, please remember to remove this sticker to ensure your bike is designated as active. Individuals who don't take this action and want to reclaim their bicycles later this year will be charged a $40 fee. All recovered bicycles must also be registered before being returned.
Donate Your Bike!
Last year, almost 250 bicycles were retrieved during the annual roundup and stored as part of the Bike at Illinois reclaiming and donation process. Help reduce the roundup and preserve campus resources by donating your bike!
If you no longer need your bicycle, consider donating it to the Campus Bike Center (51 E. Gregory Drive, Champaign) or the Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign (202 S. Broadway Avenue, room 24). No appointment is required. Donations are tax-deductible, and bikes will be refurbished or recycled, with as many parts reused as possible.
Read the email online: https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/68/1492591568.html
Tagging for Abandoned Bicycles Complete
Associated Project(s):This past week, Sarthak and interns Emily and Max have been working on tagging bicycles on campus for the abandoned bicycles project. Today, the tagging portion of the abandoned bicycles project was completed. Across all blocks of campus, 665 bicycles were tagged. After June 30th, bicycles that do not have their orange tags removed will be collected.
Started Bicycle Tagging for the 2025 Abandoned Bicycles Project
Associated Project(s):Emily and Sarthak have started tagging bicycles and recording their coordinates using ArcGIS Field Maps in the 10 (near the F&S building) and 11 (Ikenberry Quad) blocks of campus.
Ventilation System Installed and Electrical Work In-Progress for the Shipping Containers
Associated Project(s):Ventilation systems were installed in each of the seven shipping containers last week and electrical work is currently being done to add power to the shipping containers. There are also hooks installed to hang bikes on one side of the wall in each shipping container.
Attached Files:Weekly Update: Training new staff, Donated bikes
Associated Project(s):All, Been slow but good here, as we’re in a lull between spring semester and summer sessions. Slow times allow us to provide better service to the folks that do come through, so that’s a positive.
Training up new staff and trying to keep on top of builds/donations as the spring and summer clean outs have netted us a good amount of bikes. But of course no matter how many bikes we have for sale, we’ll sell out come August. A good problem to have, I suppose.
The numbers:
Visitors: 31
Sales: $841
Memberships: 6 for $180
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $335
Tires/tubes: 10 for $72Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenterSeptember Bike at Illinois events email sent out
Associated Project(s):Campus wide email sent from fscustomerrelations@illinois.edu informing students and faculty about Bike to Work Day, Light the Night, and how to reclaim an impounded bike. The official online email can be found here.
How to Reclaim Your Impounded Bike
Associated Project(s):Campus wide email was sent out on how to reclaim someone's impounded bike. Students and faculty who have left their bikes on campus bike racks over the summer have the oppportunity to retrieve their impounded bikes by September 30. The official online email can be found here.
Abandoned Bicycles Inventory Process Update
Associated Project(s):Bicycles marked as abandoned have been collected and stored and as of this morning, July 23, 2024, and have additionally been inventoried and are ready for the next step in the University's yearly Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles Project.
Identification of Abandoned Bicycles Complete
Associated Project(s):As of Thursday June 20th, the remaining abandoned bicycles on campus have been identified and are prepared to be collected by the Parking Department.
Weekly Update
Associated Project(s):All, Apologies for the delay. Pretty uneventful week. I was out at a conference on Thursday and Friday. My staff handled shop hours on Friday without issue. Made some more headway in the abandoned bike pile but also got half dozen or so direct donations as well. So, we’ve got our work cut out for us this week in processing all those.
I spent some time last week turning bars/pulling pedals on the bikes we do have here in an effort to maximize space. We’ll spend staff time this week checking over those bikes, so they can be earmarked for the Build-a-Bike program and be much easier to identify by staff and the untrained eye.
We will be closed tomorrow for Juneteenth and reopen on Friday.
The numbers:
Visitors: 6
Sales: $366.50
Memberships: 1 for $30
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $90
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
Tires/tubes: 17 for $125Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenterCollection of Abandoned Bicycle Tagging Complete
Associated Project(s):Last week, interns Myra Stevens and Sepideh Azizi completed the tagging portion of the Collection of Abandoned Bicycles project. The tagging process was completed by Friday, May 31st. Across campus, approximately 908 bicycles were tagged. After June 15th, the collection of bicycles still left tagged will begin.
Weekly Update: Abandoned bikes
Associated Project(s):All, Shortened week with Memorial Day. Otherwise, business as usual. Subpar donations are still trickling in, so we’re able to continue to pass those along to Habitat. Took a week break on the barn bikes but will be ramping that back up this week. I believe the tagging of abandoned bikes on campus has begun, so we’ll likely get calls/emails about that in the coming weeks.
The numbers:
Visitors: 28
Sales: $656
Memberships: 2 for $60
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $365
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $60
Tires/tubes: 5 for $55
Thanks!Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenterWeekly update: Bike donations
Associated Project(s):All, Last week, with the Bike Project, we were able to donate 20 or so bikes to a nonprofit church group that will send the bikes overseas. These were all bikes that would’ve otherwise been in the scrap yard, so it’s less work for us and helps keep more bikes out of the waste stream—a win-win! We continue to donate kids bikes to Habitat for Humanity as we do not have the storage space to keep those until our winter giveaway.
Got a couple more new hires on board and learning the ropes.
This week is business as usual as we try to replenish our sales stock.
The numbers:
Visitors: 28
Sales: $656.00
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $$365
Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $60
Memberships: 2 for $60
Tires/tubes: 5 for $55Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenterWeekly Update: Donation, M/W/F hours
Associated Project(s):All, Slow beginning to the week and a furious finish. Friday was busier than we’ve been in weeks, but we were also down some folks as finals were wrapped up for most people. Made progress on the abandoned bike pile. Habitat for Humanity’s bike rodeo has been a godsend, as we’ve been able to unload some kids/teen-sized bikes on to them in good conscience knowing they’ll be going to a similar cause. We’ve donated nearly a dozen bikes from CBC alone and will probably have more. We’ve received 14 direct donations from folks graduating or not using their bike, going back two weeks.
This week we start our summer hours of M/W/F 2 – 6p.
The numbers:
Visitors: 53
Sales: $678.50
Memberships: 4 for $120
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $275
Tires/tubes: 20 for $158
Thanks!Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenterWeekly Update: Abandoned bicycles, new staff
Associated Project(s):All, Big news of last week is the abandoned bikes. Bike Project folk and I were able to take an inventory of the bikes that are available and given the number of bikes—fewest in my tenure!—we are not partnering with Working Bikes this year. I communicated as much last week and no hard feelings. If anything, they’re happy to hear we have less bike waste—and they would know, they’ve got a 3 story building full of bikes.
This week we have a couple new staff members starting here. We’ll do some off-hours training with them.
The numbers:
Visitors: 40
Sales: $1,030.50
Memberships: 18 for $540Tires/tubes: 27 for $212
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Coordinator -- Campus Bike CenterUnclaimed abandoned bicycles donated to the Campus Bike Center
Associated Project(s):Following the deadline day to claim impounded bicycles, Sarthak Prasad reached out to Jake Benjamin, campus bike center coordinator, to inform that these bicycles are now considered donated to the Campus Bike Center and the Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign. See the email below:
Hi Jake,
The deadline to claim impounded bicycles have passed, so you can start checking the bicycles in the barn now. These bicycles are now considered donated to the Campus Bike Center and the Bike Project. I have the serial number information for almost all of those bicycles in the spreadsheet as well. We had about 240ish bicycles to start with and 24 bicycles were returned this year.
Thank you,
Sarthak