Lifecycle is a bike kit designed for Northern Uganda emergency transit. It quickly connects two normal bikes and turns them into an emergency transport vehicle. This project was created in collaboration with Alvin Chang, Emily Webster, Jamie Lin, and Lia Martinez in the “Design for UNICEF” class at ITP. Complete documentation can be found at lifecyclebike.org.

The main methods of transportation in rural Northern Uganda are biking and walking. But incapacitated people — pregnant women, sick children and the injured — can’t be carried on single bikes because of instability. This forces them to walk, several hours in some cases, to receive treatment at clinics. This can be impossible for those needing immediate medical care. Lifecycle tries to remedy that problem.

In terms of research, we examined the transportation situation for people in Northern Uganda trying to reach clinics. In addition, we explored and acknowledged the possibility of using Lifecycle as a cart to transport goods to the market. This insight came from talking directly to people at UNICEF and local Ugandans. We also spoke with bike experts to research what types of mechanisms would best allow for two bikes to be connected. We went through three iterations of the bike kit and, each time — after a fall or two — learned what mechanisms were crucial to making a bike kit like this sturdy. For example, an integral aspect to ensure stability of the system is that the wheels moves in unison. We eventually tested our final iteration on cobblestone roads in New York City, which you can view in the video below.

As far as stakeholder interests are concerned, we considered a model that would initially be funded by UNICEF. However, the initial product would have strong documentation as well as a clear design template allowing the local population to create their own version of the product with locally accessible materials.