CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A bicyclist in Charlotte said he’s getting tired of riding along dirty bike lanes. 

What You Need To Know

  • Bike lanes are sometimes filled with debris, such as tree branches and broken glass

  • Ramez Tadros raised $2,500 to get a people-powered bike lane sweeper

  • The device attaches to the back of a bike, and pushes debris off to the side as the cyclist rides along a bike lane

Ramez Tadros said he cycles a few times a week near his home in Plaza Midwood. He lives off a main road where there are plenty of bike lanes to travel along. 

“It’s liberating for me. I like the exercise,” Tadros said. 

But, Tadros said, the lanes are sometimes filled with debris, such as tree branches, rocks, nails or broken glass.

“The cyclist has to jump out of the bike lane and into the road with traffic,” Tadros said. “Which can obviously be quite dangerous.”

Tadros said he can request the city to clean them with its electric sweep. But, he said, given the vast network of bike lanes, that can take a while.

With a little impatience, Tadros took matters into his own hands and did some research. That’s how he found a newly invented sweeper that can attach to the back of his bike.

The device is powered by an electric motor, and it pushes debris off to the side as Tadros rides along a bike lane.

“By having a clean bike lane you’re promoting cycling,” Tadros said. “More people are going to use the bike lane.”

Tadros worked to raise $2,500 to get the prototype through an online fundraising campaign and local sponsorships.

“And right now, we’ve met our goal,” Tadros said. “A lot of community support, and, so far, it’s been nothing but a success.”

He explained the people-powered sweeper is meant to be shared.

Tadros plans to keep it outside Innovation Barn, a Charlotte-area nonprofit. The sweeper will be stored inside a metal container, next to a solar-powered charger, and any bicyclist in the city will be able to check it out.

“You’ll come here, take the sweeper out of its home, and attach it to its bike,” Tadros said. “You’ll go for a ride, you’ll clean your bike lanes and then you’ll come back and return it to the Innovation Barn.”

Tadros said the goal is to the empower the community to keep their neighborhood bike lanes clean and safe to ride along.

“If there’s debris or glass in the bike lane that you take to work, now, we have the option of doing something about it ourselves rather than just waiting for the city or somebody else to clean it,” he added.

Tadros said he’s still testing out the sweeper. He expects to start letting other cyclists in Charlotte to check it out sometime in February.