IBikeIBuy by the numbers and next steps

Many will recall that last June, I launched a web site called IBikeIBuy.ca. The notion was to capture the economic activity generated by people using the Wellington Street West bike corral - one of three across the city. So how did it go, and what's next?

I've attached a chart showing the entries dating through today from July 1. On average, over 98 entries, cyclists reporting spending $41.09 while parked. Median spending was $20. There's a single $500+ entry in the mix. Removing that from the averages, it was $35.44 per reported spending.

Over half the entries - 53 - were reported in July. There were 26 in August, 8 in September, and 11 in October. For those four months, the total was $4,027.

I have several takeaways, and met with my contractor recently to look ahead. 

First off, I'm very satisfied that the interface works. I'd intended to do a lot more marketing around the site, but that didn't come to pass. It kind of bubbled away under the radar for weeks, during which entries continued to come in. An initial flurry of social media, TV, radio and print clearly boosted numbers in July and August, but it will require a sustained effort to capture more of the spending that I know is taking place when people shop by bike.

I'm not surprised by the median and average spending. Parking at that corner is likely dominated by those spending money at the Bridgehead, Hintonburg Public House and Ministry of Coffee, enjoying a snack and coffee or maybe a beer. I don't believe this year's effort has satisfactorily answered whether there's a lot of little purchases that add up to big numbers: it's just too few entries to know.

I'm confident that this first effort can be expanded successfully with some lessons learned under my belt. My contractor and I sat down recently to talk about how, now that we know there's a high likelihood of engagement with the exercise, we can make this bigger next year. Over the next several weeks, we'll be evolving IBikeIBuy.ca in some new directions:

We want to expand the geography. Certainly every time I biked or walked by there were multiple bikes parked on nearby ring-and-posts, even when the corral wasn't particularly active. It's still up in the air whether we continue to concentrate on Kitchissippi, or possibly expand further. But, we will go beyond the corral. Stay tuned.

We want to capture more granular data about what people are buying. When one individual reported spending more than $500 while parked, I wondered whether that was a really big bill at the HPH (not out of the realm of possibility!), or was it someone picking up an order from Fabrications? We're going to add categories of spending, at least. Again, those are some decisions we'll make in the coming weeks. Just because they're cool and cheap, we're looking at slapping some Bluetooth beacons up here and there to quickly capture location information, possibly suggesting specific retailers or service providers where cyclists might have spent money. And, I'd like to see if we can add a few questions about the length of time spent parked without making data entry by the cyclist too long to undertake.

Finally, I want to know how spending compares to people parking by car. As residents know, the City is currently studying car parking in Wellington West and Westboro. I'd like to see what kind of data we have in those surveys, and I'll be seeking ways to work with amenable BIAs to piggy-back on some of the work they've undertaken. Where we still need data, I'll look at a volunteer call to help me get some on-the-street intelligence.

IBikeIBuy is still up and running, and continues to be used. I'm hoping to have the site evolved by the time the corrals come down in November so that we don't have a big blank spot before capturing the activity generated by those in the community who shop by bike all year round. Who knows? If we can demonstrate that it's significant, maybe the City can be prevailed upon, at least on an ad hoc basis pending actual budget, to do some of the winter clearing that was undertaken by volunteers (including me!) last winter.

I've got a limited budget, of course, but will be spending a bit more of it this year than last to make the intiative a little bigger. If you've got ideas, or would like to help me by volunteering to do some survey work from time to time, drop me an email. 

Thanks to those of you who offered your constructive feedback this year, who helped spread the word, who took the time to log your spending, and who offered your support. I'm happy that it was well worth doing, and looking forward to the next steps! Of course, thank you to David Hicks who has powered this up. Onward and upward.