Survey results: Campus bike signage

[Andrew Westphal]

Hello everyone,

Here's a full summary of the results from my bike-signage survey, in case you were interested.  I ended up getting 97 responses.  These votes helped me choose the best topics (bolded) for our first round of signs.  Thanks for helping!

Overall, people place more importance on certain themes:

- Safety (57.7%)

- Encouraging riding (ie health, saved cost) (23.7%)

- Campus bike resources, wayfinding (12.4%)

- How to care for your bicycle (3.1%)

SAFETY topics:

- same road, same rights, same rules (43 votes)

- Following traffic laws ("don't blow it!" [stopsigns/lights]) (32 votes) --> these top-two topic are nearly redundant: perhaps there is a way to combine the message into a single sign.

- 5-ft passing law in Ann Arbor (31 votes)

- Using hand signals ("let 'em know before you go) (20)

- Riding defensively (19)

- Using lights and wearing bright colors (18)

- Walking bike on sidewalk ("walk your wheels") (10)

GENERAL topics:

- Sustainability ("buy a bike, buy us [the planet] time," "keep the Earth green for future Wolverines") (33 votes)

- Health of bike riding ("burn calories, not gas) (24) --> through Campus Bike Club, I am trying to communicate directly with MHealthy about bringing this kind of message to their participants

- "Ditch your ride [car], commute outside" (18)

- "Free bike parking all day." (18)

RESOURCES topics:

- Wayfinding around central campus / Downtown (28 votes)*

- Information about commuting to work at UM (ie how to make a blended commute) (27 votes)

- Information about local bike groups (riding or advocacy organizations) (22)

- Wayfinding on Central-to-North campus route (18) --> I don't want to deny the impact that a dedicated C2C Trail would have on the morale of bicyclists on campus, but it's worth noting that people don't really prioritize this topic under current conditions.

BIKE CARE topics: 

- Where to find bike pumps and tools around campus (54 votes)

- Maintenance information (ie how to do a pre-ride safety check) (51 votes) --> If possible, I will try to roll this info into the sign about where to find the tools + pumps.

- Bike parking and storage options around camps (43)

- Registering your bike with UMPD (22)

- How to use U-bolt lock most effectively (21) --> These bottom two topics are the only ones which UMPD currently promotes, so clearly they have been putting energy into the topics which are least valuable based on this survey's responses.

*note about wayfinding signs: clearly, we can't start posting actual wayfinding signs at every intersection.  There is clearly demand, however, for distribution of bike maps or other information about how to get around on a bike.  I'm not sure how to integrate that as a single sign/poster, but it's something to consider.

Thanks again for your input

Andrew

--

University of Michigan

Ross School of Business

Class of 2018