One of the purposes of this exercise is to get everyone involved. I will give everyone seven minutes to investigate this subject on their own. Then I will ask each group to talk amongst themselves about what they have found for seven minutes. Then we will go around and query each group about what they found.
1. a. Biking and Race
Two years ago the dean at CHASS had each department do an “Anti-Racism Audit” to look for ways that racism might exist in our College without people being aware of it. What would an “Anti-Racism Audit” of biking in a city–say Raleigh, look like? How would you do it? What things would you consider?
Here are websites of African-American bicycling advocacy groups.
Black People Ride Bikes–Baltimore
What do you think the purpose of these organizations are? Why are they needed? What do you see in them?
Post a finding on this padlet with your name under the “inclusivity” column and be prepared to talk about it.
1.b. Inclusivity in General
Look at the following websites:
Bicycling Magazine
Rails to Trails Conservancy
People for Bikes
Do an inclusivity audit. What kinds of people do you see and what kinds of people don’t you see? What kind of picture does this give about biking? Does this audit give us any ideas of how we might try to changing biking culture in the US?
Post a finding on this padlet with your name under the “inclusivity” column and be prepared to talk about it.
2. Bike Share Systems
Your team is considering a bike share system for Raleigh. From the reading, what factors should you take into consideration? Why? What are the key elements of your bike share plan? What characteristics will you highlight in your advertising campaign? Here is a map of bike share systems in the United States. (Be sure to push the slider all the way over to 2024.) Does this map suggest that cities have to be a certain size to support a bike share system? Is there a city in NC currently without a bike share system where you think one could work? Why? Are there cities in NC where you doubt a bike share system could work?
Read this story about a bike share system in a Kansas city of 2,700 people.
Here is a population density map of Raleigh. What role will this play in your plan?
Here are the details of the Raleigh bike share system. From the reading, what do you think are the positive and negative parts of the bike share system? Are there things it could do better?
How would you compare a dockless bike share system?
Have you ever used a bike share system? What was your reaction to it?
Post a finding on this padlet with your name under the “bike-sharing” column and be prepared to talk about it.
3. E-Bikes
Here is one of the cheapest highly rated ebikes offered today.
What do you think of it? Would you buy it? What questions does the reading suggest?
Assuming an average speed of 15 mph, what would a 20 minute city look like with this bike? (Compared to a bike going 10mph). Use this tool to draw a map with the proper radius. What kinds of things are within this radius? What kinds of things are not? Do you think it would be possible to live a life where 80% of what you did on a weekly basis was within this circle? What would be the advantages of living like this? What would be the disadvantages?
Assuming a “regular” bike could be had for $500, how much would you have to ride this bike to make it worthwhile?
Think of trips you regularly take. Would there be trips perhaps not feasible with a regular bike that would be feasible with an ebike? What do you think would be some of the advantages of an ebike over a regular bike?
Some people say ebikes are a “game changer” for bicycle transportation. Do you agree? Why or why not?
Post a finding on this padlet with your name under “e-bikes” and be prepared to talk about it.