Team I10 Solution: Extended Bike Lanes

"Human centered design is important to our team because any design that does not meet the needs of the end user is not helpful to the end user. We want to develop a design that not only solves our chosen problem, but does so in a way that appeals to the end users."

1st Meeting Notes:

Traffic Measures:

• Stop signs are only used by vehicles. When traffic mixing is allowed, people drive slower. 

• Not many traffic common measures on campus for bikers.

• Only priority to pedestrians given over drivers. 

• It is hard to figure out people affected by the lack of bike incentives.

• McMaster focuses on the measure if it is a current need and tries to solve it. 

• Forsyth Avenue and Sterling Street are the busiest and are a big focus point for risk.

Bike Storage Facilities:

• Kenneth Taylor Hall has a bike storage facility to store bikes that requires paying. 

• Not ideal because it's stored outside without a roof. 

• Bikes stolen off campus occur quite frequently.

Collisions On Campus:

• Not too much on collisions on campus but look into work done on collisions that have occurred and who’s been involved. 

• Ask current McMaster Master’s students doing research in transportation.

• Chat with other Mac Changers group members about what would encourage more people to:

• Bike on campus.

• Having free bike parking places provided by the city.

• Initiatives that encourage more people to bike.

Incentives for bikers:

• Ploughing bike lanes in the winter is done in the city of Hamilton. 
• Look into what Calgary is in extreme weather conditions and the incentives they have for people riding bikes in cold weather. 
• Look into how to inform students of how to prepare for biking in poor conditions.
• Research BikeBuddy and MacCycle in McMaster and learn about how to bike on campus and repair their bike but it was shut down due to lack of funding. 
• Look into what went wrong with previous initiatives and what could be done for more sustainability.
• Look into the Hamilton bike share referendum investigation (about 5 years ago).

2nd Meeting Notes:

Safety Measure:

• McMaster has priority zones and pedestrian lanes.

• Painted bike lanes are present but no physical infrastructure, separate pathways along Cootes Drive in Hamilton.

• Things that are not bike specific are implemented, curb extensions, speed limits, speed bumps, dedicated bus lanes, just some examples.

• Usually there exists a campus master plan so look into that.

• Not just having a single bike lane but making sure it's connected so it could be more consistent.

• Sharrows are painted on the road, causing more collisions from shared road space. 

Rideshare

• Rideshare asks questions to members in surveys, but the information and data can help show what cycling infrastructure people need.

• Using the heat map which shows where people are riding bikes across campus, we can get a picture of the areas around campus with the most activity.

• Rideshare does not change wheels, winter bike tires are not necessary as bare pavement wears down on them too much, it is often clear enough to ride on.

• Rideshare promotes more people cycling in different weather conditions

• Bikers shift to bikeshare in winter to make things easier.

• Making sure infrastructure is maintained and cleared in winter brings up usage of biking.

• Bike share bike lock conditions are maintained in winter (It is not a problem because internal mechanisms are not affected). 

Common Collision Areas:

• The driveways and exits to parking lots, cars aren’t looking for bikes on the sidewalk or going at that speed, in some scenarios it becomes more dangerous.
• Bike lane crossing with turning lane shared with cars, drivers might not expect someone to come that quickly.
• Cyclists coming by parked cars are hit by opening doors.