BIKE BUDDY

A SHAD, Canada project by Sara George, Bree, Arman, Josh, Sydney, Jincheng | July 2024

THE PROBLEM

The level of carbon emissions produced by gas powered vehicles is substantial; significantly impacting our environment. Greenhouse gasses contributions to climate change and global warming are creating long lasting effects to our planet. In addition, traffic congestion levels on roadways are a severe impracticality for individuals.

According to an BC sustainability report from 1990-2021, the majority of the carbon emissions in BC are produced from the use of transportation. In 2021 out of 63 million tons of carbon emissions in BC, 21.6 mt was from transportation. In our case, most youth are driven to school, practice, or from place to place. Making their main mode of transportation environmentally unsustainable. Youth do not have a good relationship when it comes to implementing green energy into their everyday lives when it comes to transportation needs, and our idea aims to change that.

So, how might we help youth in Canada adopt electric vehicles as their primary mode of transportation? According to YouGov Profiles, 7% of Americans use an E-bike at least once a month– students do not feel enough incentive to do so, or do not have access to them due the expense or other barriers, and schools rarely have the necessary charging stations to accommodate them.

THE SOLUTION

We will create a school program and an app in collaboration with Lime Bikes to promote the use of e-bikes among high school students. The school program will provide an opportunity for students, who may otherwise be unable to afford or access e-bikes, to own an e-bike for their entire school year.

Bike Buddy will incentivize students to use the bikes with its competitive and social aspects, as well as volunteer hours gained by biking. Showcasing leaderboards of impact made as well as personal mileage and impact, the app allows students to be aware of their footprint while also being encouraged by others. Furthermore, the longer they travel, the more volunteer hours they gain!

This creates an environment to encourage students to use the bikes instead of their habitual cars, which works towards our overall goal of reducing carbon emissions. Bike Buddy provides an interactive and engaging platform for students to use in order to create more sustainable communities.

THE IMPACT

The constant use of gas vehicles in our environment causes detrimental effects on the individuals and ecosystems living in it. Through our continuous efforts and out-of-the-box thinking, our product will minimize traffic congestion, significantly reduce our user's carbon footprint, prevent gas emissions, and give our riders the freedom they deserve.

High school students are often subjected to the confinement of public transportation,

getting rides from their parents, or gas-powered vehicles from older individuals. These practices are neither environmentally friendly nor practical in the long run. The practice of biking to and from school will result in numerous positive impacts for our users.

The electric component of the bike allows the users to travel much farther distances. The power created by biking will make working out and moving the bike seem manageable, building your muscles with little to no effort. The overall strengthening of your leg muscles will allow you to move efficiently in activities including PE, other community sports, and biking.

Biking is an effort that can be done alone in a community. Bike Buddies will encourage

individuals to bike together in groups and bond. It is possible to create a club at school that teaches the user's bike paths and how to use the gears and repair them.

CITATIONS:

“Sustainability.” GHG Emissions - Environmental Reporting BC, Province of British Columbia, 30 Dec. 2016, www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/indicators/sustainability/ghg-emissions.html.

Accessed 23 July 2024. “E-Bike Program.” District of North Vancouver,

www.dnv.org/streets-transportation/e-bike-share-program. Accessed 23 July 2024.

MALATEST and Associated Engineering. 2022 Vancouver Transportation Fall Survey Final

Report. City of Vancouver, July 2023, vancouver.ca/files/cov/2022-transportation-survey-report.pdf. Accessed 23 July 2024.

“Urban mobility.” Transports Canada, 7 July 2023,

https://tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-services/transparency/corporate-management-repor

ting/transportation-canada-annual-reports/transportation-canada-2022/urban-mobilit

y. Accessed 23 July 2024.

Innovation | lime micromobility | lime micromobility. Lime Innovation . (n.d.).

https://www.li.me/why/innovation. Accessed 23 July 2024.