What's Next for Our Team

On June 15, this year's Bicycle Transit Planning Team will be crossing the stage at UC Santa Cruz's East Field during the Stevenson College Commencement Ceremony. Both of us are Stevenson College affiliates, so we will be graduating the same day and sharing tears of joy and gratitude for our four years at UC Santa Cruz.

The project and our team name Bicycle Transit Planning Team will hopefully continue in some form or another in the fall, and there are already a number of ideas for projects for next year's bike team in IDEASS. If you have other ideas, visit the IDEASS website and submit them here! We'll also be sure to send out the final report for our project through a special issue of the Pedaling Periodical in July.

Here's what we'll be doing after we graduate!

Aly will be taking a break from the sciences in order to be working at Yelp in San Francisco in the field of sales. Although Aly already accepts that she’s going to incredibly miss all the beautiful bike paths in Santa Cruz, she vows to continue bike riding in San Francisco and her hometown. For instance, her mother at first wanted to drop her off to work in the early morning; however, Aly negotiated with her mom to let her bike to BART in order for Aly to continue using alternative modes of transportation and get the best wake-up possible! Aly wants to continue working in public policy either by volunteering or staying involved with the new and upcoming IDEASS team of next year! Last but not least, Aly hopes to collaborate with her dad, who is a mechanic, to build her own bicycle that she will rep with the ultimate pride. Alright, alright, alright!

Melissa will be sticking around Santa Cruz for at least the next year, bicycling everywhere as usual and continuing to work on environmental issues. She'll be re-joining the UCSC Sustainability Office for the summer after a quarter-long break. Melissa worked in this office for the past three years as a student, so she's excited to be able to return as a part-time member of the Office for awhile. She'll also be the Santa Cruz Sierra Club's new Outreach Coordinator, helping to promote the events, campaigns, and work of our local chapter. At the end of next week, she will be graduating with a BA in Literature, which will feature in her new positions primarily through the writing skills and analytic thinking skills she has gained in the past four years. Certainly she'll be reading literature when she isn't working and possibly keeping her eye on a future of graduate school to become a professor... but who knows where her path may lead?? She hopes to stay connected to the IDEASS bike project next year in whatever ways possible, as well as continue to volunteer with People Power, Ecology Action, and other organizations doing really important work to support bicycling in Santa Cruz!

Thank you to everyone who has supported our project this year, and to all of the professors, mentors, instructors, family, and friends who have been there throughout our four years as banana slugs at UCSC! We are so grateful for the opportunity to complete this fantastic project this year, and we could not have done it without the support of so many awesome people. Of all these fabulous folks, though, we have to give the biggest thanks to Tiffany Wise-West and Amelia Conlen, our project mentors for the year. It's been so awesome to work with such inspiring, dedicated women who have provided so much guidance and support to us all year! 

Spring Fest Celebration

The UCSC Sustainability Office hosts an annual Spring Fest celebration to honor outstanding projects students have worked on for the year. Melissa and I were invited to this year’s Spring Fest to honor our work on our IDEASS Bike Transit Planning Project. The day started with the MC’s introducing all the different organizations and project teams who have been working on incredible projects this past year. After a delicious lunch, all project teams went alongside their project posters to describe to attendees about the work they’ve done and their future projections of their project. Melissa and I had just created our poster for the Wharf Sanctuary and could not wait to show it off at this celebration! Talking to people about our project with our poster behind us summarizing the amazing work Melissa and I have done was an incredible experience. It allowed us to both feel so recognized and accomplished. We are so proud of all the other project teams that were recognized at this event and we give a big thank you to the Sustainability Office for creating an event like this! 

Arana Gulch Multi-Use Trail Site Visit

During fall quarter and winter break, our team did research on automated bicycle counter technology, brands, and models to identify which kind of counter technology would be best suited to Santa Cruz. Ultimately, the one location we identified as feasible to pursue during this academic year was the new Arana Gulch Multi-Use Trail that is being built. Although we did not receive any funding to purchase a counter, we have been in communication with the project manager Chris Schneiter, who works with City of Santa Cruz Public Works, about the eventual possibility of installing a bicycle/pedestrian counter near one of the entrances to the path, which will connect Frederick Street to Agnes Street to the Harbor to Brommer Street through a few paved paths. Two bridges are being constructed to span the gulches near this open space area.

Our team met with Chris Schneiter to learn more about the project and visit the in-progress construction of the paths and bridges. Below are some photos from our site visit, and you can learn more about the project on the project's blog here.

We walked out to the anchor point for one side of the new suspension bridge. It will be the first bridge of its kind in Central California, and it allows construction of the bridge without interfering with the ecosystems below. No support columns or access roads are necessary in the riverbed. The giant cables will be strung across and tightened on either side.

Here's the view of the future suspension bridge. You can see that cables have been strung across already in preparation for the bridge.

The light pink path visible on this side of the chain-link fence is part of the new multi-use trail! It's porous concrete, so water seeps into the material and into the ground below. It's smooth enough for bicycles to ride on. 

Here's a closer view of the trail material. This part of the trail leads to the Harbor and a bridge connecting to Brommer Street.

A bridge is being built from Brommer Street to the new trail, crossing Arana Creek.

The beautiful setting of the new trail beside Arana Creek.

Here's a better view of Arana Creek and the location of the new bridge from Brommer Street to the multi-use trail.

It was exciting to see the progress that has been made on this trail! If you want to learn more about the project, please visit http://aranatrailproject.blogspot.com/ and keep your eye out for updates about the bicycle counter that will hopefully be installed at the trail in the near future!

Immersing ourselves in Bike Week

Melissa and I could not wait for the first week of May. We had our calendars ready (well Google Calendars), our watches set, and our bikes all cleaned up. We were ready to start May with the big, the bold, and the wheely fun Bike Week.

This past year Melissa and I have been collaborating with the City of Santa Cruz, People Power, Ecology Action, and other related organizations. We've given our efforts in tabling at multiple events throughout the year, volunteering with Elise Ehrheart of Ecology Action in teaching elementary school children how to properly ride their bikes to school with the Bike Smart! program, and co-facilitating bike-commuting workshops with Amelia Conlen of People Power. All these events we partook in were to contribute towards our main goal: to increase bicycle ridership in Santa Cruz.

Melissa, our friend and favorite volunteer Hasti, and me at Bike Night First Friday

We started our week off last Friday (May 2nd) at the Ecology Action and People Power sponsored event "Bike Night: First Friday at the Museum of Arts & History." This event was the big kickoff of Bike Week! It was fun night filled of bike-related arts and crafts stations, a group-led bike ride downtown, live music from local artists, bike-blended ice cream, and free helmets! Melissa helped people deck out their bike with decorations for Bike Week while I helped lead the bike ride downtown. I had to to keep people to the right side of the road to ensure that we weren't impeding traffic too much! Overall it was a successful night!

On Saturday, Melissa hosted a Bikes & Food Justice Fest on campus to promote students to become more aware of this mode of transportation and get some free strawberry bike-blended smoothies! At this event, people learned about the importance in Food Justice and how it's related to sustainable transportation. I helped table about our project to heighten the importance of bicycling! 

Bike valet by People Power at Open Streets

On Sunday, Melissa volunteered at Capitola's "Open Streets" event. It was  day filled with music performances, arts and crafts, and People Power's exhibit on the importance and safety that cycletracks or protected bike lanes can bring in our town. Since Santa Cruz has two of these protected bike ways, this exhibit was advocating the importance of them and the encouraging people to support having of more in the local communities.

Bike Week World Cafe

On Monday, Melissa and I participated in a UCSC World Cafe by having the theme be about bikes (since Monday was the official beginning of Bike Week)! We made bike-blended smoothies, talked with students about cycling and its benefits, and got people stoked about the upcoming events! On Tuesday, Melissa helped volunteer with UCSC Transportation and Parking Services to give away free helmets to ensure people who are biking remain safe!

Bike to Work Day on May 8

Celebrating Bike to Work Day with a beer at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing with one of our mentors, Amelia Conlen.

IT WAS FINALLY THURSDAY! The reason Bike Week was so important for the both of us was it allowed us to measure if our goal of increasing bicycle ridership was being reached in Santa Cruz, specifically on Thursday when it was Bike to Work/School Day. To measure our success, Melissa and I volunteered alongside the UCSC Cycling Team in giving away free breakfast to bicyclists who biked up to school. We all had such sensational and awe-inspiring conversations with the vast amount of cyclists who stopped to chat and eat some of the food we offered. From bike cruisers, to mountain bikes, to road bikes, Melissa and I were both so proud to see so many people ditch their cars and bike that day. To end the great day, we both went to Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing to help donate $1 from our pints of beer (hehe) to Ecology Action and Bike Week programs for all their hard work this week.

Santa Cruz Bike Party takes over the Wharf!

On Friday, Melissa and I wanted to bring all this bike awareness towards some hard earned fun! We joined People Power in a massive Santa Cruz Bike Party that was themed (Bike) Empire Strikes Back with many local community members, students, and families in the streets of Santa Cruz. We all biked from downtown to the Wharf, along the San Lorenzo River, up to Mission Street, around Safeway, and back downtown. We were all motivated to bike the night away by the speakers blasting dancing music and everyone dressed in Star Wars costumes.  

Melissa and Hasti promote bike valet

We ended our Bike Week by volunteering with Amelia Conlen, director of People Power, in having free bike valet at the UCSC music festival "Edge of Eden." We wanted to promote to student and participants a cheaper alternative to driving and taking public transportation! We got to enjoy the amazing performances of several artists, soak in the sun, and give people the freedom to have fun as we took care of their bikes. 

On the "edge of Eden" waiting for people to come valet their bikes!

Overall, this week was filled with so many amazing moments, conversations, and memories. This month has only just began, but this past week sparked the passion and drive that Melissa and I have for cycling. Come join the fun! 

IDEASS Tabling at the UC Santa Cruz Community and Arts Festival!

On April 12th, Melissa and I had the wonderful opportunity to table at the UC Santa Cruz Community and Arts Festival. This festival invited students to present the research and projects they have been working on this past academic year. Melissa and I were fortunate enough to be able to table at this event so we packed our bags with our previous newsletters, bike maps, a simple CO2 emission calculator, and other bicycle-related resources we have used for our project and got ready to immerse ourselves with the variety of people downtown.

We weren't ready for who we'd talk to and what we'd talk about! Melissa and I talked to avid, confident cyclists who gave us suggestions on our bicycle-commuting workshops, we gave advice to people who want to incorporate cycling into their daily commute, a man asked us about our project's importance and why cycling mattered in Santa Cruz, but overall so many people acknowledge our project and applauded us for our efforts. It was an amazing experience to be able to educate and talk with the people who reside in the same the city we've both lived in for four years. Although, we've had numerous outreach events that we've promoted our project at, this event was exhilarating and an educational occasion for us too.

IDEASS Presentations at Green Drinks Last Week

Last Tuesday on April 1, two teams of students from the Impact Designs: Engineering & Sustainability through Student Service (IDEASS) program spoke at Green Drinks Santa Cruz at Cafe Mare in downtown Santa Cruz. Both projects were related to sustainable transportation--one focused on electric vehicle charging stations and the other (our project) on bicycle transit planning and education. 

Green Drinks Santa Cruz is an informal networking event where environmentally-minded people meet over drinks, and it meets at different local restaurants each month on the first Tuesday. There was a great turnout for the April meeting, and after enjoying some drinks and happy hour appetizers, the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Team presented first. Team members Jessica, Dannah, and Amrita shared some of their initial findings from data collection at charging stations in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. They continue to work on the project as the school year progresses, and they were able to get some useful feedback on directions to go and trends to analyze from the community members who attended the presentation.

Their EV project is described on their UCSC Project Clearinghouse page:

"Our overarching sustainability goal for the transportation sector is more electric vehicles on the road that will ultimately reduce GHG and particle emissions and will put a more sustainable fuel source into widespread use. To achieve that goal we are working with Monterey Bay Electric Vehicle Alliance, a local non-profit organization, to analyze data from EV charging stations in Santa Cruz County and Monterey County. ... 

"This project primarily involves two components. The first component is data analysis, which involves retrieving information from EV charging station owners. Once the data has been retrieved, our team will look for trends and analyze the data for any significant correlations. The second component of our project will involve data visualization via GIS [geographic information systems] mapping, reports, and graphs for ease of public viewing."

After the EV Charging Team presented and the audience asked questions and provided feedback, it was our turn to present about our Bicycle Transit Planning project. You can view our presentation on Google Drive here and read more about our project on our webpage here.

Aly and I spoke about the various aspects of our project, including our bike commuting workshops for the community and local businesses, our survey analysis from these workshops, our educational efforts at community events on and off-campus, and our work to get an automated bicycle counter installed at the Arana Gulch Multi-use Trail. 

The audience had a lot to say regarding their perspectives and frustrations with the current bicycle infrastructure in Santa Cruz and the U.S. in general. Suggestions included installing safer roadway features than just a stripe of paint on the ground for a bike lane, working to educate drivers more on rights of bicyclists, working to educate bicyclists more on rules of the road, and more. It was helpful to have our project mentors, Tiffany Wise-West from the City of Santa Cruz Climate Action Program and Amelia Conlen, Director of People Power of Santa Cruz County, in the audience to answer questions and provide some support in addition to the answers we could provide. 

After our presentation, folks mingled in the restaurant and made connections, discussing topics further. Aly and I spoke with "Cosmic Joe" who among other pursuits leads the star-gazing workshops through the UC Santa Cruz Recreation Department. He was really supportive of our work, and it was nice to speak one on one with a community member who was learning about our project for the first time. It was also nice to realize how much of a hot topic bicycling is for our community--the amount of comments and frustrations expressed with the current state of bicycling was awesome evidence that our work is really necessary and valued.

We're grateful to have had the opportunity to present at Green Drinks, and we look forward to future opportunities to engage with the community. We hope to see you at the UCSC Community & Arts Festival this Saturday at Abbot Square downtown (10 - 3 PM) and next Saturday at the Earth Day Celebration at San Lorenzo Park (11 - 4 PM). Thanks for reading!

Thanks to Hannah Hodgson for the photographs and for organizing Green Drinks Santa Cruz!