Community Mapping

Rutgers University students and New Brunswick residents will be participating in a community mapping event to improve bikability, on March 2, 2012. Participants will meet in front of the Rutgers Student Center on College Ave Campus at 1:00 pm and conduct the survey until 3:00 pm around College Ave and the downtown New Brunswick area. Students enrolled in Community Mapping, taught by Dr. Wansoo Im, and other Rutgers volunteers will assess the bike hazards present in the city and upload their observations into an online map. The area includes main routes taken by students and residents for commuting and recreational biking.

The RU Biking initiative will be geared towards residents’ perception of safety and potential for change in and around the designated areas.  Bikers are particularly interested in road conditions, blind spots, dangerous crossings and anything that can cause a hazard to cyclists and drivers. Participants will record the level of hazard present using smart phones and surveys. The information collected will be uploaded onto an interactive online map which will be open for the public to utilize. The event is to help raise awareness about the safety issues that surround biking in New Brunswick and teach the process of conducting a Community Participatory Mapping project as a way to make improvements. New Brunswick drivers need more exposure and knowledge about sharing the road with bikers. This initiative will ultimately attempt to improve overall safety in New Brunswick for everyone traveling. Biking is a social good and should be encouraged.

After the event, participants will reconvene at the Rutgers Student Center for pizza and refreshments to review and share experiences from the event.

Please see the event page to join the Community Mapping Facebook Event and view the event flier.

To determine “bikeability,” to ensure safety, and to provide individuals access to safer routes for bicycling in the Rutgers Community.

These goals can be accomplished through:

• Conduction of pre- and post-test surveys regarding demographic information, occupation identification (student, faculty, etc.), accident reporting, perception questions, etc.
• Evaluating data and information: identifying the community and the decision makers effectively, extensively researching existing legislation and municipal master plans, researching bicycling initiatives in other communities, utilizing existing accident data to understand patterns, frequencies, and relationships, mapping out the locations of recorded theft, bike stands, etc.
• Holding a community mapping event in which individuals will use public participatory GIS to account for the conditions of roads and to provide suggested safe routes for bicycling, etc.
• Educating the Rutgers Community about the benefits of bicycling, the need for safety assurance, and the need for improvements in the bikeability of New Brunswick and all campuses
• Increasing Awareness and the need for change
• Community Outreach to increase visibility of the nature of the problem