A final presentation about our plans to implemtnt a bike rental scheme in to University town of Maynooth

2. Introduction – Meet Team 3
Conor Kelly Keith Bracken
Lyndsey O’Connell Carl Delaney
Mark Wiley Andrew Mc Cabe
Cormac Friel

3. Project Scope
To investigate if the implementation of a
bike rental scheme on the NUI Maynooth
campus would be a viable and worthwhile
venture.

4. Project Selection
We wanted to undertake an interesting and
worthwhile project.
Our idea would be a huge asset to student life.
Bike-About has great financial viability with
potential for expansion beyond the college into
the local housing estates and area.

5. What is Bike-About?
A student aimed short term bike rental scheme for
students of NUI Maynooth.
Based on schemes such as Toronto Bixie Bikes, and
Dublin Bike Scheme (DBS).
Utilising the new Student Card allowing students to
purchase trips using their Student Card.
Use of student card also identifies who is using the
bicycle.

6. What is Bike-About?
2 docks located on Campus, beside new Library
(unaffected by preservation order) and John
Hume building (central location) and scope for
additional dock at Train Station.

7. Objectives

8. Objectives
Investigate and prepare a plan to see if the
installation of a number of bike rental points and
implementation of a bike rental scheme around
the NUIM campus is viable.
Undertake research to find out consumer
reaction to our proposal.
Research locations where the facilities are best
suited to be installed.

9. Objectives…
Undertake a feasibility study to examine factors
such as cost for design and running of the
service, consumer attitude and competition.
Research the possible use of student cards and
the new feature in which you can use them to
purchase goods on campus.

10. Objectives…
Research to examine the price students would
be willing to pay and if the college would be
willing to subsidize a proportion of the price
Construct detailed financial forecasts and
business overheads

11. Proposal
It was identified that we would approach the
Students Union first about the Bike-About
project as the backing of a strong, established
organisation within the University would greatly
enhance our chances of receiving permission
for the project.

12. Project Schedule
We agreed to meet every Tuesday at 12 0 clock. This
allowed us to keep on top of all projects and assignments.
A brief meeting was held every Friday after the Project
Management lecture to summarise proceedings.
Our first meetings consisted of a brainstorming sessions
to gain ideas for the project and how far we were going to
take the project.
We distributed team roles and tasks for every team
member to concentrate on.

13. Project Schedule…
We identified Facebook as the easiest means of
communication. Each team member completed their
assigned task and post it on the page to be seen,
assessed and critiqued by team members.
Meetings were designated to analyse and assess
reviews of previous work. Areas in need of attention
were then highlighted and monitored to improve
future work. A high emphasis was placed on giving
constructive criticism.

14. Work Breakdown Structure
"Bike-About" Prepare
Investia Fundin Basic
Custome
Basic gtion of g Propsal
r
for Design
Finance Locatio Source Reaction
campus
ns s Survey
Campu authoriti
Delivery/ Campus College es
Cost of Railway s
Cost of Instillatio Mainten Logisiti Ease of Permissi Securit Investm Bicycle Vendor
Operati Station funding
Design n/Manufa ance cs Access on for y ent/Sup s Pods
ons cture locations ? competi
port
tion

15. Gant Chart...

16. Project Schedule…

18. Budget Management/Finance

19. Project Costs
• Installation fees (€2250 1st yr only)
• 4 Hub Maintenance Quote (€2000 yearly)
• Van Rental (€3780 annual)
• Bicycles (€225 per bike X 40)
• Hubs (€3300 approx)
• Repairs Quote (€40-€60 per bike depending on fault)

20. 40 Bikes Optimum Number
In the Dublin Bike Scheme there are 550 bikes used to supply a
population of approximately 1.2 million. This works out as one
bike for every 2181 people in the city.
We have reviewed business plans of the Paris and Beijing bike
schemes, and found that the ratio of bikes to people is between
3% and 6% of the population.
With our 40 bikes, we have the ability to supply 3.6% of the
population of Maynooth at any one time. That is one bike for
every 275 people.
We believe that this justifies our decision to initially use 40 bikes
in our scheme.

21. Investment
University subsidies
Potential investors
Possible grants.

22. Expenses
Salaries – 1 employee at €16000 p/a
Marketing and Branding – €1000 in our first year
of business, €500 p/a thereafter.
Premises - €6000 in first year.
Management fee – €10000 p/a
Insurance – Bikes will be used at own risk,
identification through student card.

24. Finance Summary
As you can see from the profit and loss account,
in the first year we will make a loss of €32,450.
In the second year, we will make some small
profit which should gradually increase each
year.
Therefore, the total investment we will need is
€32,450.

25. Charges
We would plan to charge 50cent per hour.
We wish to encourage short term use of the bicycles
To do this we would place a 8hour time limit on
rentals.
If not returned after 8hours the occupant’s student
card will be charged €2, and €1 for every half hour
thereafter.

26. Advertising
We have contacted several businesses in
Maynooth & Celbridge that are interested in
advertising on our bike’s panelling and hubs,
should the venture go ahead in the future. Eg:
Carraig Donn, Hubu Hairdressers Celbridge, The
Zeba Hairdressing, Rebel Pizza, Student’s
Union, The Roost, Mantra and Chill.

27. Team Roles

28. Project Manager
The role of project manager is vital in any group with
leadership, organisation and determination being at
the forefront of their work for our group.
The project manager's role in a nutshell is the overall
responsibility for the successful planning, execution,
monitoring, control and closure of a project.
The PM was in charge of keeping our team on track,
setting and monitoring goals and deadlines and
keeping good relations within the group.

29. Marketing Officer
The marketing officer contacted and approached several
businesses located in the Maynooth vicinity in order to
gain a different source of income for Rent-A-Bike through
the outlet of advertising (on the side of bikes and at bike
hubs).
The other key aspect which the marketing officer dealt
with was formulating a marketing plan to promote Rent-A-
Bike. The marketing officer placed a high emphasis and
free or relatively cheap media sources such as Facebook,
Twitter and leaflets as a way of cutting expenses for Rent-
A-Bike.

30. Consumer Attitude/Research
A selection of the student population of NUI
Maynooth was surveyed so as to determine the
practical viability and usage of the Bike-About
project.
Research was carried out to determine whether staff
and faculty of NUI Maynooth would avail of the
service. We determined there is a high probability
based on a similar venture which is currently running
in University College Cork, as the service is run
solely for staff of the college.

31. Finance
This was a very important department for our project
as it was our goal to identify whether Bike-About
would be financially viable or not.
The cost of purchasing installing and maintaining the
equipment and the stations.
Whether financial backing from the college would be
available.
Projected yearly revenues generated from Bike-
About and other sources such as advertising.
Investigating suitable insurance cover and costs.

32. Team Working

33. Team Working - Performance
Worked well together overall during the last 3 months.
Weekly meetings.
Some slippage near the end in November due to other
commitments each team member had.
However, we came together again to complete our various
different outstanding deadlines and preparations.
Communication was conducted professionally for the
most part however, there has been some disputes and
arguments at times over the workload distribution and
attendance.

34. Team Working – Team Strengths
Focus: when goals are set, our teams focus and
determination to achieve that goal was outstanding.
Communication: clear communication between
members through various different methods was a
key part to achieving success in our endeavours.
Strong Characters: in a lot of cases too many strong
characters in a team can cause more problems than
they solve. However this was not the case in Team 3.
This positively affected our work because everyone
wanted to do well and ensured that every part of
their work was perfect.

35. Team Working – Weaknesses
Other Commitments: a majority of members in
the team had quite a few other commitments
which resulted in unplanned slippage occurring.
Financial Knowledge: unfortunately the bulk of
finance came to the responsibility of only one or
two members, who had some knowledge of this
area from previous study.

36. Team Working – Lessons Learned
More extensive management plans need to be
put in place a lot earlier in the project in order to
completely eliminate slippage.
One project manager is not enough in a large
team of people. With other commitments, there
needs to be at least one or two back up PMs to
keep things going strong continously.

37. Challenges Our Team Faced
We had to agree on a worthwhile project to undertake.
Sometimes it was difficult to arrange meeting times that
suited all team members.
Delegating roles to each member that suit their talents
and interests was a challenge.
Similarly if a team member couldn’t make an arranged
meeting, we would have to ensure he/she was kept
informed about developments and given a task for that
week also.

38. Challenges Our Team Faced
As the idea for a project has only been displayed in a
minority of settings, we found it difficult to source
information and examples that may be needed.
We had to find a convenient medium to use to
communicate; hence we chose to create a Facebook
group page.
We are also the only group in the module that has a
competitor project, so we viewed this as a constructive
challenge.

39. Monitoring & Controlling
We established a monitoring and control plan early in
the project in order to avoid slippage and keep track
of assignments.
With various written assignments we would have at
least 2 members proof read the teams work.
We had a weekly summary of proceedings each
Friday after our project management lecture.

40. Monitoring & Controlling
Our communication channel was primarily Facebook;
our project manager at the time would check
uploaded files and messages and ensure it
corresponded with our WBS and Gantt Charts.
Overall slippage was kept to a minimum.
Unfortunately due to one or two cases of human
error and unseen circumstances, slippage was not
completely eradicated.

42. NCPF Dublin - Galway
National Cycling Policy Framework 2009
Maynooth is soon to become a town on a major
cycle corridor, the Dublin-Galway corridor.
Huge potential for cycle-tourism.
Option of expansion of Bike-About scheme into
locality targeting tourism in the future.

43. Project Status
We have at present finished our study.
We have concluded that the project would be viable
should it be implemented.
The demand for the service is there and would grow.
We have seen that the project has scope for
exapansion into a larger financial enterprise.

44. Project Closure
At the offset of the project we identified the project
presentation stage as our goal to bring the Bike-About
project to.
We achieved this by using the process of setting and
meeting goals, working transparently as a team and
focusing on the initial project scope outlining what we
aimed to achieve at the end of the project.
The closure of our project Bike-About project signifies
that we have achieved our goal of identifying whether
the possibility of installing a bicycle rental scheme in
the vicinity of and surrounding NUI Maynooth is a viable
business venture.

45. Thank You For Your Time