Bike Tyler

Inspiration

We were inspired by the health focused mission of the local non profit we work for in addition to the idea of a sustainable alternative to regular commuting.

What it does

Bike Tyler is an affordable program that brings easily accessible transportation to the people of Tyler that may face barriers with transportation as well as visitors seeking recreational activities.

How we built it

We decided to create a website that is easy to use for everyone. This website contains all pertinent information about the program as well as our concepts summed up short and sweet. We were going to 3D print a prototype of the devices to attach to the bikes but decided the conceptual explanation would be better for presenting the idea as a whole.

Challenges we ran into

Everyone on the team is generally tech savvy, but none of us had ever coded before. Like, at all. We attended the workshops and learned a lot, but simply because of time constraints we chose an avenue that would give us a good presentation rather than a tangible device. Deciding how best to piece all of our ideas together was challenging, but the good thing about working on a team is being able to figure out what each person's strengths and weaknesses are and put them together to form a cohesive idea.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We were very pleased with our ability to create a realistic product design with a sustainability plan for the financial and administrative side.

What we learned

We learned basic HTML coding as well as how to build a simple android app in Android Studio! We also learned about how 3D printing works and the type of files required to bring a concept to life.

What's next for Bike Tyler

If this idea were to take off, our next step would be to find an engineer or partner with an organization to manufacture the physical devices to be attached to the bikes. Our initial take off is based on grants we could apply for for the initial cost, but hopefully once we have data collected after the pilot phase, we could present it to other agencies and businesses in the area to expand the reach of the initiative while also creating a fiscally sustainable program.