Skip to main content

Spin launches safer road design competition

Ford Mobility’s scooter firm Spin has launched a competition to design safer streets.
By Adam Hill April 24, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Spin competition aims to better delineate VRUs from vehicles (© Spin)

In conjunction with Team Better Block it has come up with the ‘Build a Better Barrier Challenge’, which calls on designers and planners to help repurpose space for people during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The idea is to design barriers that better delineate and protect pedestrian and mobility lanes from traffic. 

Entries must be in by 12 June and the winning design will be trialled in the US.

“With fewer cars on the road and a clear need for open spaces to allow people to safely exercise and move around their communities, many cities are looking to affordably and quickly repurpose road space," said Kay Cheng, director of infrastructure initiatives at Spin. 

"It’s clear that as cities plan to gradually reopen, bikes, e-scooters, and other forms of solo transportation will be critical to continuing physical distancing.” 

The company says designs will be selected based on how well they protect people from cars, maintenance costs, durability, affordability to all communities and sustainability of materials. 

“Working on bike lane demonstration projects in many cities has made us aware of the limited options available for barriers that separate bike lanes from vehicular lanes,” said Zoey Mauck, urban designer at Team Better Block. 

“We are seeking new ideas for how to create safer streets that are both attractive and affordable."

Find out more about the challenge here.

A webinar on 21 May, hosted by Spin and Team Better Block, will give more details about submitting design concepts.

In a separate response to coronavirus, Spin introduced an initiative called ‘Everyday Heroes’ this month to provide free 30-minute rides to work for essential workers, starting with those in healthcare.

The scheme is in place in Baltimore, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Tampa, Washington, DC and Salt Lake City. 
 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Spin moves e-scooter operations into Europe
    March 4, 2020
    Ford’s micromobility company Spin is to launch dockless electric scooters in Germany and is also hoping to launch in France and the UK this year.
  • Speeding the recovery of stranded commercial vehicles is paying dividends in Georgia
    April 9, 2014
    Delcan’s Cheryl-Marie Hansberger details how Georgia’s Towing and Recovery Incentive Program (TRIP) has improved road safety and helped to reduce traffic congestion in the metro Atlanta region. By 2008, steady increases in population had led the Texas Transportation Institute to declare Atlanta, Georgia to be the third most congested city in the US. In an effort to increase road user safety and mitigate the effects of traffic, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and its local partners have imple
  • Car parking and parked cars need not be a technological black hole
    March 19, 2015
    David Crawford mines the potential of joined-up parking. Drivers conventionally see parking as an isolated, often frustrating, action; but collectively their attempts to find a space impact hugely on traffic flows. But new analyses of parking events look set to deliver real benefits to motorists and cities alike. Initiatives getting under way around the world are highlighting the advantages of connecting up parking events and – eventually - parked cars. The hoped-for results include not only enhanced urban
  • Aimsun Next update focuses on VRUs
    July 1, 2020
    Company says it will allow planners to model pedestrian and cyclist movements post-Covid