THE IDEA
Biking isn’t a fad. It’s a growing lifestyle. That’s why we want to help make it more accessible - By creating a bike-sharing system in Detroit.
WHAT IS BIKE-SHARING:
A public transportation alternative that provides a flexible method for completing short trips. Members and nonmembers can use and return bikes at their leisure by purchasing day passes or annual memberships. By swiping a credit/debit or membership card, riders can check out and return bikes at different stations throughout Detroit.
HOW BIKE-SHARING WORKS:
1. Register - online or at any 24 hour station.
2. Choose your bike - Card holders: Choose a bike in the station, press the correlating button and wave your card over the sensor and your bike will be released. If you are not a card holder you will need to use the Kiosk at a station and follow the simple directions to get your bike.
3. Ride.
4. Return your bike - to any station by rolling it into an available dock.Wait for red light. That’s your signal that the bike has been securely returned.
SUCCESS STORIES:
Bike-sharing is a simple concept that is already in use worldwide. For instance, Barcelona has been using a bike-sharing system since 2007, and now, over 10% of their population have become members. Their network currently consists of more than 400 vending stations and over 6000 bicycles.
Closer to home, Boston has implemented the same concept on a smaller level with 61 vending stations and over 600 bicycles. Before the bike-sharing program even launched in July 2011- 700 individuals had already preregistered for annual memberships.
OUR FIRST STEPS
Phase 1: Detroit would start with 9 vending stations stretched out in areas from Corktown, Greektown all the way to New Center. (See map). Phase 2: With additional funding, we plan to add more stations, bikes and bike paths for the growing group of riders in the Ferndale Royal Oak area. (See map)Located right in the heart of the city there are three colleges,Wayne State University,College for Creative Studies, and U of D, multiple high schools, including one of Detroit largest - Cass tech. In total 36,000+ students in a very small area. 90% of the students are commuters who don’t own bikes and spend blocks of time in Detroit. In a quick survey X% said they would be interested in belonging to a bike-sharing program.
• Detroit has a growing bike community, and a population of over 700,000.
• Over 3,000 people participate in the annual Tour-de-troit bicycling event.
• The TDT have been a driving force behind getting bicycle lanes added to the city streets.
• The majority of people living in Detroit are between the ages of 25-34.
• The average commute to work is 20 minutes.
• 20% of people living in Detroit do not own a vehicle.
Conclusion: A very large number of physically able people who live close to work without transportation.
FUTURE OF DETROIT
Detroit’s crutch is and has been the auto industry. It’s been a huge influence on the development of the city for better and for worse. Currently, Detroit has been pushing more and more for eco-friendly movements such as urban gardening and buying local - making it an ideal place for a bike-sharing system. In the next ten years, Detroit is planning on expanding its mass transportation system with light rails. By implementing it parallel to the light rail system, the two can work hand-in-hand to bring more people to Detroit in the future. *Note our program will cost $65/year. DDOT/SMART bus passes cost $600/year. Cars cost over $3,000/year.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
It’s in the name. Sharing. This program encourages people to become a part of a community within a community. It is a great way to bring people together to get active, save money and create a change in Detroit.
We want the community to be involved throughout the entire process: from the manufacturing and materials to the maintenance and repairs. We are dedicated to making this project a locally built and operated system so that the money spent in Detroit, stays in Detroit.
The bicycles will be built from recycled materials by a local manufacturing factory. However, we need a design. We will offer the students from the surrounding Detroit schools a $1,500 scholarship to come up with the design for the solar station and bicycles, and a $1,000 scholarship to students to design a logo and promotional materials.
Not only will bike-sharing help the community economically, but the bike path that we will strive to have constructed will also give the community a safe place to have fun and to get out to exercise. Our entire reason for this project is to give back to the community in every way we can.
$70,000 PLAN
With this $50,000 we plan to create a design, identity, station, shelter and bicycle. The additional $20,000 along with the free marketing and environmental consulting will be extremely helpful to our project. Being located in so many neighborhoods, it will be nice to have the opportunity to have some additional insight on where locations of the stations should go. Team Detroit is a great company that will only benefit the success of this project. As for the increase of the grant itself, we plan on using it to reduce our estimated start-up costs. | COST BREAKDOWN | PROFIT ESTIMATES |
| Number of bikes - 150 Number of stations - 9 Bike design: $1,500 Logo promotional : $1,000 Recycled materials: $3,000 Manufacturing services: $30,000 - $45,000 Tires: $6,750 Wheels: $11,250 Yearly maintenance: $4,500 Solar station: $40,000 Printing costs: $1,000 Total Cost = $109,000 +/- Hatch Detroit Grant: $70,000 Grants, Sponsorships, Other funding: $50,000 Total Investments = $120,000 +/- Difference = $11,000 +/- Any remaining Grant funds will go towards yearly Maintenance, Lawyer, and bike replacement fees. | Annual users @ $65 a year 350 annual users - $22,750 250 annual users- $16,250 150 annual users - $9,750 Daily users @ $20 a day 30 users- $600 20 users- $400 10 users - $200 Monthly users @ $30 a month 60 users- $1800 30 users- $900 10 user- $300 In one year HIGH estimate- $25,150 - (not including less than a day users) In one year LOW estimate- $10,250 - (not including less than a day users. |
Download a PDF of the - PROPOSAL
