meters2miles

Interactive Design & Media ApplicationProfessor David E. MeyersProject A Midterm Project Walk-a-meterBridgid McCarrenWinter 2011

3 • Mccarren INTERACTIVE DESIGN & MEDIA APPLICATION P ROj E C T A

The goal of this four-week project is to design and realize a non-digital, interactive game, story, informa-tion system, or artwork. My personal focus is on inter-active design, more specifically designs that require participation from the community to create some positive change. I am also interested in design that does not create more “stuff” by either utilizing recy-cled goods or minimizing the amount of new materials used. Therefore, for this project I wanted to create a public installation that fits this criteria.

The problem I have decided to address is the a lack of complete sidewalks and bike paths in cities through-out the US. According to the 2009 National House-hold Transportation Survey, “50% of all trips are three miles or less and 28% of all trips are one mile or less” These distances could easily traversed by foot or bicy-cle. Yet a reported “60% of trips under one mile are made by automobile” in part because of incomplete streets that make it dangerous or unpleasant to walk, bicycle, or take transit. Furthermore, “cities that have increased side walks have seen up to 140% increases in pedestrian and cycling traffic after increasing and completing the most heavily travelled sidewalks and bike routes.” Creating more sidewalks and bike paths would not only make our cities safer, reduce traffic concerns on congested roadways, create jobs for city road crews, cut down on environmental pollution caused by automobiles, but would also allow more adults and children to increase their physical activity level and fight obesity.

However creating new sidewalks and bike paths is costly and requires the cities resources. So it is impor-tant for the city manager or planning commission to identify the most heavily travelled areas in the city and raise funds for new sidewalks and repairs to existing sidewalks. “Hiring a contractor to pour a concrete sidewalk runs around $5 -$9 a square foot, or $1,500 -$2,250 for a sidewalk 5 feet wide and 50

feet long. Depending on the type of finish used, costs can be as high as $10 -$18 or more a square foot, or $2,500 -$4,500 for a 5-by-50-foot sidewalk.” Some cities offer a 50-50 cost sharing plan while other cities repair the sidewalks within city limits entirely out of their budget.

I propose the installation of “meters” along the road in areas that have incomplete sidewalks/bike paths or no sidewalks/bike paths. Citizens traveling those routes can drop any coin into the meter each time they pass by. The meter would not only record each coin as a traveller on the path but also act as a saving mecha-nism to help fund the citizen’s portion of the sidewalk repair costs in areas where the homeowner may not be able to afford the cost.

These new “meters” will reuse of old coin operated meters that are quickly being replaced and discarded for solar-powered pay and display units that accept credit cards and dollars instead of change for conve-nience and also as the cost of parking in cities rises. There for recycling an object that has already been manufactured and if someone does not find a way to reuse them they will find their way to a scrap yard or landfill.

The audience for this project is walkers, runners, cyclists and commuters that choose alternative modes of transportation other than automobiles This would include men, women and children of all ages although the majority of the audience is ages 18-45.This project also has the ability to allow a community to come together and help make their streets more safe and beautiful.

Bibliographyhttp://www.completestreets.org/complete-streets-fun-damentals/factsheets/changetravel-patterns/.

Project A Midterm Project Part 1: Motivation, Proposal, Audience


Project A Midterm Project Part 1: Sketches

Stickers can be cheaply and easily printed with little cost to the program and placed on meters by city workers or vol-unteers. Using space mostly on the coin side of the meter. Maybe also the part that moves when you turn meter could say “thank you”.

Colors should be bright and eye-catching. Type should be clean and clean. A San serif type-face. Simplify text as much as possible


Project A Midterm Project Part 2: Visualization & Conceptualization

TOP STICKER: METERS2MILES

MIDDLE STICKER:BE THE CHANGE THAT LEADS TOSAFER STREETS.DONATE HERE (and an arrow.)

THE METERS2MILES PROGRAM GIVES YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO LET THE CITY KNOW WHERE YOU NEED SIDEWALKS AND BIKE PATHS IN YOUR COMMUNITY. HELP CRE-ATE PEDESTRIAN SAFE ROADS BY TURN-ING THE METER EACH TIME YOU PASS BY ON FOOT OR BIKE. IF YOU ARE ABLE PLEASE DONATE AT THIS METER TOWARD THE COMPLETION OF MILES OF SIDEWALKS AND BIKE PATHS NEEDED. THANK YOU.

CIRCULAR BOTTOM STICKER:FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REQUEST A METER2MILES CHANGE GENERATOR IN YOUR AREA VISIT WWW.METERS2MILES.COM

SIGN ON BACK OF METER (FACING THE STREET):RECYCLED PARKING METER & CHANGE GENERATOR FOR THE METERS2MILES PROGRAM. VISIT WWW.METERS2MILES.COM.


Project A Midterm Project Part 3: Testing Results

Suggestion was to add a component that would allow users to stay engaged with meter lon-ger hence the addition of the tree art on the front of meter and the foot stickers on the side that show how many people have partici-

These images reflect changes made after feedback from Part 2. Subjects in testing were shown the images below as well as the actual meter with stickers on the next page.


Project A Midterm Project Part 3: Meter design & Images


Julie B. (Hyde Park area)Female, 29, marketing specialist, Marathon Runner

Would uses sidewalk 12 -14 times per week. Yes wants sidewalk but have not requested because she doesn’t know how and doesn’t think the city would take action. Felt curious and participatory upon first glance. Felt Positive and optimistic and glad tocontribute to community safety. Yes, would take alter-native transport if there was a completed pathway. Recycle aspect is a plus. Did not donate because does not carry change while running. Asked if city would actually do this program. Also suggested awebsite to track progress and reflect activity of city.

Tim (East Walnut Hills, Bus line route)Male, 60, Painter, Contract work

Would use sidewalk 10x per week and would like one. Never thought of asking the city for one. Felt curious when he saw meter but felt that his opinion matters, positive and optimistic after participating. Currently walks to bus stop and would continue to use public transport or walk. Would donate his pocket change of $2.15. Doesn’t get the feet stickers and thinks they don’t need to be on there. Just paint it green!

Leah H. (East Walnut Hills)Female, 26, Accountant, Runner and Cyclist

Would use sidewalk 7-9 times a week march- Octo-ber. Would like both a sidewalk and bike path. Actu-ally requested a sidewalk but waiting on response from city. She felt participatory when seeing the meter although may have run past it if she wasn’t payingattention. She feels optimistic and positive that a proj-ect like this might help her get her sidewalk and glad to contribute to community safety. Only uses sidewalk for exercise but not for errands or transportation. Did not have coins but might bring some on a run if she knew she would pass meter. Glad to see meters are not being sent to dump. Wanted to know if city will

actually do this program because feels city needs tobe more “alternative transport friendly”. Stickers seem fun way to see people participating but also a bit like graffiti.

Megan, (Kenwood)Female, 38, mother of 2 and dog owner

Walks the dog and kids to school so would use sidewalk 4x daily also bike riding and skateboarding with kids in warm months. Also kids walk to bus stop and take it to school 5 days a week. Yes would like a sidewalk and bike path and would be willing to give up a driving lane for it on here street. Did not submit request because she didn’t know she could. She felt curious and participatory up on seeing meter. Felt as though her opinion matters and positive and optimis-tic and glad to help community safety after participat-ing. Also wondered if the meters were temporary and got moved around or stayed until sidewalk was there? Would have contributed her change in pocket of 65cents. Glad for the recycling aspect. Suggested the meter tell you what the funds go toward, be more specific.

Josh A. (Hyde Park area)Male, 28, Estate Homes Project Manager

Would use sidewalk 10 x a week in warmer months.Would like either a sidewalk or bike path but not both. Did not submit a request to city because of laziness. Felt confused when he saw meter then participa-tory. Felt positive and optimistic after participating. Also glad to contribute because there are lots of kids around in the street. Yes would use sidewalk to get to bus or new streetcar being installed in 2012. Wouldcontribute pocket change of $1.10. Yes glad they are recycled cause the weigh a ton and what else would the city do with them…more scrap. Did get the stick-ers? I guess for the kids or helps track people. Also make people put in money to be counted. It’s agood cause.

Project A Midterm Project Part 3: Testing Results


Project A Midterm Project Part 3: Summary

I was able to get people’s reactions via a survey I created with 10 questions and multiple parts to each question. The weather was not great so I did not get as much foot traffic as I would have liked but of the five subjects that I interviewed, overall they were enthusiastic about the idea. They were definitely in favor of sidewalks in their area and of the project. They did not have much faith in the city’s past per-formance and wanted to know if this project would actually be implemented and if so when.

Issue 1:They were less enthused with the addition of the tree drawing on the front of the meter and they foot stick-ers that you can place on it each time you walk by. The user is on the go and does not want to engage with the meter for very long. This was a late addition and so I am thinking of eliminating this part. The turn-ing of the meter and the optional donation seems like a simpler, cleaner approach.

Issue 2:The problem that people might pass right by the meter without noticing it. I was thinking of painting the meters but found that would require an additional time from the city workers. Also many paint choices that are needed to cover a heavy metal such as this that are cost effective are also not environmentally friendly options.

I thought that if the meter were bent to a different shape then maybe the meters would be noticed more on the side of the road. And they could also act as a

more efficient bike rack in this shape (holding addi-tional bikes). May cyclist already use the meters as bike racks but they can only hold one at a time.

Lastly, when the meters were installed a series of brief statements could be painted onto the street with a stencil that would catch the attention and alert the passerby of the METER2MILES up ahead. A less harsh paint could be used and although it would eventually be washed away by the elements many people in the community will have already seen the METERS2MILES and could spread the word to others in the community.

Issue 3:The color yellow and amount of time looks “institu-tional” and unappealing to active consumers So I also changed the color for the yellow to a bright, reflective green. This color is used by runners and cyclist in the community and adds the additional benefit of glowing in the dark for safety.

Issue 4:Also discovered that it would be great if there was a way that you could indicate if participant was in favor of a sidewalk or bike path on that street. The addition of the second bent meter as men-tioned earlier could act as the meter for those in favor of a bike path. While the one standing upright would be for those in favor of a sidewalk. The copy would reflect this difference by either saying “sidewalk” or “bike path” on the appropriate meter.


Project A Midterm Project Part 3: Summary continued

I have also met with the Supervisor of the City of Cincinnati parking services. I have submitted a list of questions about the likelihood of actually imple-menting this idea in our city. His response was very positive and he said, “Parking meters are not being phased out in Cincinnati just yet. Yes we are buying credit card meters that run on batteries and they cost approximately $600 each. We should be starting the change over to these new meters within 4 to 8 weeks. We are getting about 1200 of these type meters with the majority being used downtown.”

Also he was able to confirm that the electronic meters can track the number of uses per day and the time for each day that coins are used. We have a hand-held unit that tracks how much is put in the meter

on a daily or weekly basis depending on how often you scan the meter. We can set them up to give time without coins by either pushing a button or turning the handle on the electronic types.

Last but not least. He said, “Your plan to try and set up some type of program to have donations given to replace sidewalks or trails sounds like an option that maybe this and other cities might think of and use. Its success I think would be on dependent on how well it is implemented and whether citizens believe they are getting something of value for their donations. But all around a green and great idea.”


The problem I have decided to address is the lack of complete sidewalks and bike paths in Cincinnati and other cities throughout the US. According to the 2009 National Household Transportation Survey, “50% of all trips are three miles or less and 28% of all trips are one mile or less” These distances could easily traversed by foot or bicycle. Yet a reported “60% of trips under one mile are made by automobile” in part because of incomplete streets that make it dangerous or unpleasant to walk, bicycle, or take transit.

Furthermore, “cities that have increased side walks have seen up to 140% increases in pedestrian and cycling traffic after increasing and completing the most heavily traveled sidewalks and bike routes.” Cre-ating more sidewalks and bike paths would not only make our cities safer, reduce traffic concerns on con-gested roadways, create jobs for city road crews, cut down on environmental pollution caused by automo-biles, but would also allow more adults and children to increase their physical activity level and fight obesity.

However creating new sidewalks and bike paths is costly and requires the cities resources. So it is impor-tant for the city manager or planning commission to identify the most heavily traveled areas in the city for new sidewalks and raise funds for repairs to existing sidewalks. “Hiring a contractor to pour a concrete sidewalk runs around $5 -$9 a square foot, or $1,500 -$2,250 for a sidewalk 5 feet wide and 50 feet long. Depending on the type of finish used, costs can be as high as $10 -$18 or more a square foot, or $2,500 -$4,500 for a 5-by-50-foot sidewalk.” Some cities offer a 50-50 cost sharing plan while other cities repair the sidewalks within city limits entirely out of their budget.

I propose the installation of meters along the road in areas that have incomplete sidewalks/bike paths or no sidewalks/bike paths. Citizens traveling those routes on foot or bike will be alerted that there is a METERS2MILES meter up ahead by street mark-ings stenciled on the roads with slogans like “ WISH THERE WAS A SIDEWALK?”, “SLOW DOWN & TURN

METER”, “METERS2MILES UP AHEAD”. During user testing many cyclists were concerned that they might accidentally pass by a METERS2MILES if they were unfamiliar with the project so these marking will help alert them to the upcoming meter. Once these have perked their attention they will see the meters and stop to look more closely.

Just down the road, they will find two meters one upright and one whose pole has been bent to the side. During my meeting with the City of Cincinnati’s manager the problem arose with how the city could determine if the traveler was in favor of a sidewalk or bike path. My solution is the addition of a second meter that would create a second count and bent be more effective as a bike rack and also to be more eye-catching to a passerby. The upright meter is for those in favor of a sidewalk on this street and reflects this on its sticker. The meter on the bent pole is for those in favor of the addition of a bike path to this street. The traveler can simply turn the knob or drop any coin into the meter of their choice each time they pass by. The meter would not only record each turn of the knob as a traveler on the path but also act as a saving mecha-nism to help fund the citizen’s portion of the sidewalk/bike path costs.

These new “meters” will reuse the city’s surplus of old coin operated meters that are quickly being replaced and discarded for solar-powered pay and display units that accept credit cards and dollars instead of change for convenience as the cost of parking in cities rises. Therefore, recycling an object that has already been manufactured and if not reused will find its way to a scrap yard or landfill. The only cost to the city would be the printing of the 5 small stick-ers located on the front and back of each meter, the stencils and paint for the street markings, and the cost of bending one pole and installing the units. Also to note is the color chosen for the project. From the user testing many recommended the color yellow for its bright and vibrant nature. To not confuse this with other yellow lane marking and street signs already in the environment I decided to use a florescent green.

Project A Midterm Project Part 4: Updated Proposal


Green represents the environmentally friendly nature of the project and florescent so that the stickers will reflect light thereby illuminating the side of the road-way for pedestrians at night. This reflective material is already very popular for athletes to wear when it is dark out so they can be clearly seen by passing cars.

This project also has the added benefit of facilitating an opportunity for a community to join together to make their streets more safe and beautiful.

Resourceshttp://www.completestreets.org/complete-streets-fun-damentals/factsheets/change-travel-patterns/

City of Cincinnati, Parking Services Planning docu-ments and interview with manager

Project A Midterm Project Part 1: Updated Proposal continued

Part 1: Target Audience

Part 1: Motivation

The audience for this project is walkers, runners, cyclists and commuters that choose alternative modes of transportation. This demographic would include men, women and children of all ages, although the

majority of the audience is ages 18-45. They would interact with the METER2MILES project on streets in the community that do not currently have sidewalks or bike paths.

The goal of this four-week project is to design and realize a non-digital, interactive game, story, informa-tion system, or artwork. My personal focus is on inter-active design, more specifically designs that require participation from the community to create some positive change. In the case of this project I wanted to create something that would help the community voice to the government the areas that are in need of

safe pathways and also raise funds for the repair of damaged sidewalks. I am also interested in design that does not create more “stuff” by either utilizing recycled goods or mini-mizing the amount of new materials used. Therefore, for this project I wanted to create a public installation that utilizes an object that the city no longer has use for , the coin-operated parking meter.


ON FRONT OF METER:SLOW DOWN & TURN METERMETERS2MILES PROGRAM

ON THE bACk OF METER:METERS2MILESBE THE CHANGE THAT LEADS TO SAFER STREETS.DONATE HERE (and an arrow.)

LOOK AROUND AND ASK YOURSELF WHAT’S MISSING?A SIDEWALK WOULD BE IDEAL. METERS2MILES AIMS TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN BY ALERTING CITY OFFICIALS TO THE DEMAND FOR SIDEWALKS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SO

THAT OFFICIALS CAN BEST PRIORITIzE THEIR RESOURCES.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? SIMPLY TURN THE KNOB EACH TIME YOU PASS BY

STILL WANT TO DO MORE? THE COIN SLOTS STILL WORK SO MAKE A DONA-TION. ALL FUNDS GENERATED GO TOWARD THE GOAL OF THE METERS 2MILES PROGRAM. FOR MORE INFO OR TO REQUEST A METER IN YOUR AREA VISIT METER 2MILES.COM

Project A Midterm Project Part 4: Final Copy reads


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How can you Help?

Simply turn the Knob each time you paSS by

LOOk AROund And ASk YOuRSELF WHAT’S miSSing.

A SidEWALk WOuLd bE idEAL.

mETERS2miLES AimS TO mAkE THAT HAPPEn bY ALERTing ciTY OFFiciALS TO THE dEmAnd FOR SidE-WALkS in YOuR nEigHbORHOOd SO THAT OFFiciALS cAn bEST PRiORiTizE THEiR RE-SOuRcES.

STIll wanT To Do MoRe? THE cOin SLOTS STiLL WORk SO mAkE A dOnATiOn.

ALL FundS gEnERATEd gO TOWARd THE REPAiR And cOmPLETiOn OF nEW And ExiSTing SidEWALkS And EFFORTS TOWARd THE

mETERS2miLES miSSiOn.

METERS 2 MILES

SidEWALk mETER(bAck)

Project A Midterm Project Part 1: Final


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WAY

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How can you Help?

Simply turn the Knob each time you paSS by

LOOk AROund And ASk YOuRSELF WHAT’S miSSing.

A bikE PATH WOuLd bE idEAL.

mETERS2miLES AimS TO mAkE THAT HAPPEn bY ALERTing ciTY OFFiciALS TO THE dEmAnd FOR bikE PATHS in YOuR nEigHbORHOOd SO THAT OFFiciALS cAn bEST PRiORiTizE THEiR RESOuRcES.

bikE PATH mETER(bAck)

STIll wanT To Do MoRe? THE cOin SLOTS STiLL WORk SO mAkE A dOnATiOn.

ALL FundS gEnERATEd gO TOWARd THE REPAiR And cOmPLETiOn OF nEW And ExiSTing bikE PATHS And EFFORTS TOWARd THE

mETERS2miLES miSSiOn.

METERS 2 MILESProject A Midterm Project

Part 1: Final


mETER2miLES(FROnT)


mETERS 2miLES SL

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DOWN & TURN M

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STREET OR cuRb STEnciLS


meters2miles

Documents

new sidewalks

travelled sidewalks

existing sidewalks

cities safer

cities resources

foot sidewalk

new meters

incomplete sidewalksbike