#bikethecass main blog

Today I am debuting the #bikethecass project. A DIY Bike Sharing program for the Cass Avenue area of Detroit and beyond. You can find all of the information here to be a part of the project:

The Story

Bike sharing has become a viable mode of movement in many cities.
Detroit’s biking communities is growing stronger as well. Combining
these and you get a greater demand for bike sharing in Detroit. The
only issue right now is the lack of bike sharing, only reserved to the
downtown, by a selected group of individuals. This experiment is to
break those boundaries. This sharing system includes recycled cycles,
located at already existing bike racks, and is for anyone who needs to
ride. Here are the steps on how you can use this bike:

How to Start

1. Acquire the code lock: Look up #bikethecass on twitter, facebook,
    instagram, etc.

2. Once unlocked, take the bike for a spin, check the map for any
    suggested destination or any other bike racks for your
    destination. (shown on the map below).

3. At your destination, relock the bike with the lock provided. You 
    are free to take it back to your previous destination as well. 
    we just to lock it at a bike rack when use is done.

4. Share you adventure! Take a picture of your ride and/or
    destination. Use #bikethecass to spread your ride to future users
    and the community.

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Stay tuned for day by day updates...

DIY Bike Sharing: Cass Community

The studio project has made it's leaps and bounds to a more finer point. The focus is on Bike Sharing.

In Detroit, there is a growing need of biking from the lanes to the bicycles themselves. This is inviting strategies such as Bike Sharing. Cities are familiar with Bike Sharing, it involves a series of specialized bicycles located at a specialized station where people can "borrow" the bike for a spin to practically wherever they want to go. Of course there's restrictions as far as time-limits, costs, and even ridership. Detroit at the moment has a few stations located only in Downtown, more important is that the bikes are only available to certain employers (most from the Gilbert-Empire). This leaves a lot to be solved for what Bike Sharing can do for a community. 

This lead me to move forward on providing a community-friendly bike sharing system. This system would not require stations, specialized bikes, or any kind of specialized membership. The fleet of bicycles would be comprised of a series of donated bicycles that are able to get from Point A. to Point B. The bikes would finally be populated at your local bicycle station. It's only indicator is a sign instructing you how they can borrow the bike.

I decided to try a trial run to see how viable this can be to an up and coming community like the Cass Community, stetching from the populated Wayne State Campus to the desolated Cass Corridor. I was able to acquire a donated bicycle for the experiment.

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Of course, I'm not going to let a bicycle loose in the city of Detroit. I need to be able to track it for information on what it can lead to (potential bike sharing locations?). So I implanted a GPS unit with a casing system for protection. You can see the process of the casing I developed below.

The GPS unit will provide a tracking point (coordinates) for every 2.5 minutes of use. The tracker will also detect when the bicycle has stopped for a prolonged period and when it has begun moving. The data is then relayed to an online account where it can be analyzed and downloaded for use elsewhere.

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The next steps in the project would be creating an instance where the users of the shared bicycle can document their rides. Preferably through a #hashtag where the adventures can be documented publicly via. social media. This will allow the users to communicate to me and others where they like to go and what their adventures entails. Following a series of information that can be useful in developing a community enriched biking infrastructure.

Midterm overview

This semester has gone by fast, so the midterm has already swept by. So this is where my project on the Biking Community of Detroit has gotten to....

We have focused our project down to what seems to be the pinnacle of Bicycling in Detroit (don't take my word for it though). This area is showing growth in a variety of ways, from educational pursuits of Back Alley Bikes to the upscale retail bicycles provided by Shinola. Along with the news of MDOT securing funds to improve Cass Ave for bicycling lanes, while Woodward has the M1 Rail, therefore I thought it made sense to focus on this interesting region of Detroit.

The area is broken down into 3 areas. The Cass Corridor area is underdeveloped and has a lot of gaps to fill in, but with a rich past, it can be a part of the whole scheme. Midtown is a rapidly growing area for commerce and residence. It's results can percolate to other areas. Wayne St. campus is the top cap where the university sits, this provides a great close around from the highway up ahead. The boundaries are prevalent, but are vulnerable to expansion. 

Moving forward. We've decided to look into more variables. We figured that safety is a big part in what creates a healthier biking community. Many cyclists fear theft, therefore locations of bike racks are important. Another form of safety is in education, how can we feel safe if we don't know how to manage our bikes, fix a flat tire? Resources like Back Alley Bikes is a great pedestal to maybe work off of. Fender Bender up the road also participates in educating citizens on bike safety. So at the moment, we are looking at how to "hack" the environment to bring greater attention to safety and education for commuters on bikes.

Our greatest resource, the Slow Roll currently acts as a great case study on how road behavior changes when the minority (bicycles) becomes the majority (usually cars). This can teach us how to find the needs to balance the quantity of cyclists and motorists. We are also currently seeking those in Wayne St as word is that they are currently active in making the community more bicycle friendly, preferably for their student body.

The remaining weeks of this project, we look forward to creating a physical model of what can create a rise in bicycle education and awareness. Stay tuned for the end results!