Bicycle Repair Stations (Phase 2)

Estimated Amount to be requested from the CSF: $3,085

Letter of Intent:

This project will build on the success of an earlier CSF project that installed five bicycle repair stations on campus by installing two additional Dero Fixits at strategic locations on campus. The new repair stations will allow students, employees, and visitors to fill their tires and perform basic repairs quickly, effectively removing maintenance and uncertainty as barriers to bicycling. Repair stations will be installed in the Marine Studies/John Wallace Hall building cluster and at residence halls along Whitman Court. These areas were not served in the first round of installations but have since requested repair stations.

Phase 1 of this project initially proposed ten repair stations but was scaled back to five at the recommendation of the CSF selection committee. This was so we could gain experience with the repair stations on campus and see how they would be received by students and employees. Because they have been so well-received and heavily utilized, expanding to the remaining areas of campus is prudent. To measure this project’s success, a student intern will conduct user counts and a satisfaction intercept survey at each of the new and existing locations once the new equipment has been installed. We will also monitor visits to the Repair Station website and track emails and press related to the repair stations.The project will be coordinated with UW Housing & Food Services (for installations at residence halls), the University Landscape Architect, Maintenance & Alterations, and Commuter Services.

This project contributes to UW Commuter Services’ goal of achieving a 20% bicycle mode share by the year 2020. Currently, 8% of students, staff, and faculty bike to campus, compared with 19% who drive alone. These drive alone trips contribute to our campus-related greenhouse gas emissions, lead to potential conflicts with pedestrians, bicyclists, and other drivers, and detract from the overall livability of the UW campus and the greater University District.
Providing bicycle repair stations is one way that the University can encourage the UW community to bike to and around campus rather than driving.

This project creates one 60-hour student job. The student will be responsible for planning and siting the repair stations using a set of criteria developed by the previous student intern during the project’s first phase. She or he will work closely with Commuter Services and Housing and Food Services staff, as well as the University Landscape Architect, the Grounds Manager, and building coordinators to identify optimal locations for each station. After reaching consensus on installation sites, the intern will then coordinate with Facilities Services and oversee the installation of each unit.

The outreach and education goals for this project:

  1. To expose all students and employees to basic bicycle maintenance. At a minimum this means knowing how to pump up a low tire.
  2. To ensure that all students and employees have access to the necessary tools for performing simple maintenance and repairs, and that they are aware that they have access to those tools.

To publicize the bicycle repair stations to the campus community:

  1. The repair stations are highly visible, and the 2012 design includes bicycle “branding” on the station itself. Because of this, they market themselves nicely. The 2012 stations also include a QR reader that links to a series of “How To” videos for a variety of basic repairs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAtoXZV3Fhs&feature=youtu.be).
  2. As with the first phase of the project, we will market the repair stations on the Commuter Services Bike Repair website and other online locations (the existing repair stations were featured on the CSF website, The Daily, the Cascade Bicycle Club Blog, and Examiner.com).
  3. We will work with the Building Coordinators where repair stations are installed to distribute information to building residents and tenants.
  4. We will publicize the repair stations during our popular Bike to Campus Month and Ride in the Rain events, through Commuter Services’ Bicycle Interest list serve, and as part of our comprehensive bicycle branding program (slated for rollout in summer 2012).
Primary Contact First & Last Name: David Amiton