Want to win $1250?? Enter the Bike Storage Design Contest
Tuesday 24, April, 2012
One of the best things about biking to and from Unitec is zooooming past the lines of motorists stuck in traffic jams and knowing that you’re not contributing to the congestion.
One of the worst things is trying to find somewhere to park your bike when you actually get to Unitec.
You don’t have to walk far around Unitec to find a bike awkwardly chained to a lamppost or a tree, or parked in a stairwell. You might also see some empty old unused iron bike racks nearby…
To tackle this problem we are launching a contest for teams of students to design better bike storage at Unitec. Your team could win $1250 and see your design built at Unitec.
A survey in 2011 revealed that approximately 80% of cyclists at Unitec do not use bike racks because they damage their bikes, or are inconvenient and open to the weather, or are simply non-existent! Instead, cyclists find their own solutions by parking bikes in more convenient, secure and weatherproof locations.
A common solution for staff members is to park bikes in or near their offices. But less-fortunate students have to make-do, while some would-be cyclists just leave their bikes at home and jump in their cars instead.
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Cycling Needs, cyclists and would-be cyclists want shelter, security, safety, convenience, and the ability to self-actualise as members of a community of cyclists.
Our survey backs this up, showing that there is a group of potential cyclists who could be encouraged on to their bikes if conditions were more conducive to cycling. By ‘conditions’ they mean things like the weather (we can’t control that), road safety and road conditions (ditto), and facilities for cyclists at Unitec (now THAT we can do something about!).
The contest:
We’re launching a contest for students to design some bike storage solutions for Unitec.
Two or more students just need to form a team, choose a site (or sites) at Unitec, and design a bike storage system that actually meets the needs of cyclists at Unitec. The prize is $1250 for the winning entry and $250 for the runner-up. There’s also the glory, and the winning design could be manufactured and installed at Unitec! That would look very good on a CV.
If you’re a teacher at Unitec, we’d love you to support your students to submit a design.
Teams must have a minimum of two students
Expressions of interest and initial draft designs are due by 25th May 2012 to Simon Nash snash@unitec.ac.nz
Full competition details and design criteria
Additional resources on bike storage design: