Year: 2010

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Business News Transportation

Cincinnati web designer creates ‘Mobilizing Metro’ iPhone app

Mobilizing Metro app

Aaron Renn recently wrote that It’s Time for America to Get On the Bus. He argues that cities should look at improving the quality of their bus service to eliminate the negative perception and attract more riders. He states that while there’s a “legitimate case for rail” in many cities (including Cincinnati), adding high-quality bus service to the plan can expand the reach of the transit network at a lower cost.

Riders of Cincinnati Metro buses would agree with Renn’s ideas. Metro is often criticized for lacking many of the “amenities” which are now common on other cities’ buses. For example, permanent shelters displaying clear route maps and real-time bus arrival information would make riding an unfamiliar route much easier. Re-loadable fare cards would eliminate the hassle of carrying exact change. Integration with Google Transit would make trip planning easier.

Fortunately, Metro is making progress on some fronts. A new communication system is in the works which will provide riders with real-time bus locations on their smart phones. New articulated buses are providing a much-needed increase in capacity for heavily-traveled routes. Improvements like these are being made as allowed by Metro’s tight budget and other grant sources.  But ideas for innovation at Metro are also coming from outside the organization.

Web designer Ian Monk came up with the idea for an iPhone app called Mobilizing Metro that makes it easier to find routes and nearby destinations.  The app would be able to pinpoint your current location and display what routes pass nearby.

Monk explains, “I distinctly remember a friend of mine, who lives right along the 17/18/19 route, thinking that the buses didn’t run on Sunday because he didn’t know when they came or where they went.”

In order to differentiate the app from similar ones, Monk decided to integrate several types of destinations into the interface.  “It can also filter them so that only destinations within a couple blocks of a chosen bus line show up,” he said.  That makes it easy to find restaurants, bars, post offices, or parks that are completely accessible by public transit, making car-free living much easier.

Monk developed a Flash-based version of the app while he was a Digital Design student at UC.  He recently entered his app into the Cincinnati Innovates competition with hopes to win funding to continue development.  If he receives one of the prizes, which range from $1,000 to $25,000, he hopes to enlist the help of another developer to create iPhone and Android versions of the app.

You can vote for the Mobilizing Metro app at Cincinnati Innovates to help Monk win one of the awards.

With advances like a mobile app, convenient fare cards, and improvements to stops, Metro will continue to attract more riders that have other transit options.  Since Metro will also operate the Cincinnati Streetcar, they have the opportunity to integrate buses and the streetcar into a seamless system.  And although we should continue to get on board with an expanded rail system, we should also make the most of the Metro system we currently have and encourage more Cincinnatians to get on the bus.

Categories
Development News Transportation

UC planning students create redevelopment plan for Dantas Barreto Corridor in Recife, Brazil

In an effort to prepare for the 2014 World Cup, Recife, Brazil is looking to redevelop its historic Dantas Barreto Corridor into a tourist-friendly, walkable, and culturally significant area. To accomplish this Recife city officials have looked to students from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally-acclaimed School of Planning.

After spending months in the port city in 2009, 13 students and faculty developed a detailed plan that would serve as a guide to redevelop the corridor. As preparation efforts ramp up, city officials now appear poised to formally adopt the UC redevelopment plan.

“There is a move by the city to officially adopt the UC plan, and the city and UC are now in negotiations with the hope that the UC School of Planning can continue in an advising role as the plan is adopted and them implemented,” said Michael Romanos, Professor of Planning, University of Cincinnati.

The redevelopment plan calls for burial of utilities, business improvement loans, community policing strategies complimented by two small police stations, pedestrian cultural tours, establishment of a small business incubator, galleries to show and sell work of local artists, “major” reconfiguration of traffic along the waterfront, streetscape improvements, composting and recycling programs, streets trees, green roofs, and entrepreneurship training among other things.

The improvements are geared towards improving the traffic and parking conditions, enhancing the cultural heritage, enhancing and diversifying business activities, and increasing residential development in the corridor.

Founded in the 1500s, Recife boasts a population of nearly four million residents and is facing many challenges as they prepare for the international sporting event four years from now. The work produced by University of Cincinnati students and faculty is being seen as a major benefit though as the city marches forward.

“The work with UC was one of the best collaborations we had in the past year,” said Milton Botler, Coordinator of Urban Planning, City of Recife. “The City hopes to receive Inter-American Bank funding to finance physical improvements of the Dantas Barreto Corridor between January 2011 and December 2012.”

Michael Romanos and Carla Chifos, Associate Professor of Planning, have led groups of student in international study and planning work in the past in other parts of the world including Thirasia, Greece where a team of students worked to develop a plan for the small Greek island as it manages tourism traffic on its largely uninhabited land.

Categories
News Politics

Cincinnati’s RecycleBank program to be Midwest’s largest

The City of Cincinnati announced, in June 2010, that they would partner with RecycleBank and Cascade Engineering to completely change the way Cincinnatians recycle. After a false start on larger recycling carts earlier in the year, the news came as a pleasant surprise to those looking to increase the volume of recycled household waste.

The RecycleBank partnership will make Cincinnati the largest Midwestern city to take part in the program that offers tangible incentives for residents to be greener in their everyday lives. The program works by effectively paying participants for their household recycling. Residents earn 2.5 points for each pound of recycled material that fills their recycling “smart carts” which are weighed at the time of pick-up. The points are then automatically deposited into an online account where the participants can use them to purchase products or gift cards to both local vendors like Park & Vine or national vendors like Target.

There are winners everywhere in this agreement. Users win because they are effectively paid to recycle their household waste. The City of Cincinnati wins as there is an up-front savings of over $1 million in collection (it will be changed to bi-weekly) and landfill costs for an initial investment of $750,000 which is coming from federal stimulus money. And finally, the environment wins as RecycleBank has shown positive returns as residents recycle more, by as much as 30 percent more, of their day to day household items.

While the City has yet to officially announce how people can participate in this free program, those interested can visit RecycleBank’s website to start an online rewards account now. It is free to sign up and the site offers helpful hints to be more green throughout day-to-day life. Additionally, users can jump start their account by earning points through other programs including a mail in electronics recycling program. The points earned through these other programs can then applied to the account used for Cincinnati’s curbside recycling program expected to start this October.

Categories
News Politics

New Cincinnati non-profit takes on education equality

A newly formed Cincinnati-based non-profit is attempting to take on one of the more complex issues facing cities: Education. DevonshireSmith Diversity & Education Solutions (DVS) was launched last week with the goal of increasing high school and college graduation rates among minority groups.

DVS emphasizes that a lack of educational opportunities within minority communities can lead to other significant issues such as poverty. The non-profit points out that, in 2008, the median earnings of young adults (ages 25-34) with a bachelor’s degree was $46,000; $36,000 for those with an associate’s degree, $30,000 for those who complete high school, and $23,500 for those who did not earn a high school diploma or equivalent.

The progressive group will utilize community and school based initiatives, while also working towards filling service gaps and support for non-profit organizations, high schools, colleges, and universities. Some of the group’s projects include campus diversity education, curriculum development, and recruitment and retention plans.

Michael D. Griffin, Co-Founder and DVS Executive Director says “DevonshireSmith aims to shift the public conversation from the equality of educational access of minoritized groups to the equity of educational attainment for these groups.”

According to DVS, the state of education for minority groups has two major hurdles to overcome. First, the number of minority students being retained and graduating from high school and college has either become stagnant or is on the decline. Secondly, education and youth professionals are lacking the required level of cultural familiarity to effectively address the significant needs facing these students.

DVS believes that youth development and empowerment can lead to an increased number of minority graduates, thus leading to stronger communities in Cincinnati’s urban core. To help achieve their goals, DVS has created a plan that consists of three organizational hallmarks:

  1. A comprehensive youth development strategy that focuses on academic success, self-assessment, heightened expectations, personal development, character development, leadership development, civic engagement, career exploration, cultural/social justice education, and post-baccalaureate education exploration.
  2. A comprehensive community based approach that includes the participation of parents and other surrogate caregivers, educational institutions, the nonprofit community, the faith community, and the corporate community.
  3. Creating a process for educational institutional transformation that includes the participation of better prepared and engaged students and more culturally competent faculty, administrators, practitioners, and staff.

The most astonishing statistic provided by DVS compares the cost of a college education with that of a prison inmate. The group states that The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction spends about $2 billion annually, an average cost of $25,367 per inmate each year. Conversely, in 2008-2009, the average cost for one-year of tuition fees at a four-year public university in Ohio was $8,588 according to CollegeAdvantage 2010 data.

At the same time, the average reading level of inmates is at a grade level of 7.5, while 80 percent of the offenders are high school drop outs. According to the Ohio Department Rehabilitation & Correction, approximately 30 percent of the males and 20 percent of the females read at less than a 6th grade level and are considered functionally illiterate. DVS is hoping that they can begin to reverse these numbers by reaching out to a ‘hard to serve’ population in a more direct fashion.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment Business News

Hive13 celebrates first year as Cincinnati’s hackerspace

A self-driving remote control car, a refurbished arcade game cabinet, and a MakerBot 3D printer are just a few of the things you may find at the Hive13 hackerspace.  Hive13 is not just a physical location, it has also become a community where hackers, artists, and other creatives come together to share ideas and work on projects they dream up.

In 2009, a group of 20 people began talking about bringing a hackerspace to Cincinnati.  After two months of planning, they moved into a former Camp Washington warehouse and set up shop.  Today, members of Hive13 have 24-hour access to the workspace and a variety of tools to help them with their projects.

Hive13 is still acquiring new tools — like a laser cutter that can pierce wood, plastic, or metal — and working on new projects — like a weather balloon connected to an Android-powered cell phone for communications.

To celebrate their first year of operation, Hive13 is throwing a party on Saturday, July 24 at their hackerspace, located at 2929 Spring Grove Avenue.  Music, refreshments, and games will start around 7pm.  One of the activities, at the party, will be “laser graffiti,” which allows you to virtually graffiti a building using a laser, webcam, and projector.  A silent auction will also be held to raise money for the group.

Follow @Hive13 on Twitter to stay up-to-date, and learn more about the group from this Soapbox Cincinnati video: