I have always loved travel, culture and digital media.
I love arriving in a city and discovering how it works: how people move, where they gather, what makes each neighborhood distinct and how transportation connects people to the life of a place.
While studying and traveling in Europe, I became fascinated by public transportation and the way it shaped everyday life. Later, visiting Japan, I was amazed to watch a bus arrive at the exact minute the schedule promised. Everyone boarded in about a minute, the doors closed and—bam—it was off to the next stop.
The precision was impressive, but so was the larger system behind it. When transportation is reliable, intuitive and connected, it becomes almost invisible. You do not have to fight it or plan your entire day around it. It simply helps you participate in the city.
Great transportation infrastructure is a thing of beauty.
I am a marketer by profession, but I have always been obsessed with civic ideas: public spaces, cultural institutions, local businesses and digital tools that make communities more useful, accessible and alive.
I love Milwaukee, where I live and am raising my family. I still have a deep connection to Chicago, my former city, and I am continually inspired by places like Minneapolis and Detroit.
When I visit a city, I rarely have a car. I take a train or subway when one is available. I walk—a lot. More recently, I have increasingly relied on shared bikes, e-bikes and scooters.
These are no longer novelties. They are becoming standard parts of urban transportation.
They help people cover the distance between a transit stop and their destination. They make neighborhoods more accessible. They allow visitors to experience a city at street level instead of seeing it through a windshield.
My hope is that our infrastructure and laws continue to evolve with these choices—and that we gradually give more of our streets back to people.
My interest in bikes goes back a long way. I love them and own more than I probably need. A few years ago, I even considered starting an e-bike company. I could see that smaller, cleaner and more flexible vehicles were going to become increasingly important.
Then the pandemic hit.
My family depended on my income, so I chose the safer road. Safety first. The e-bike company remained an idea, but my interest in transportation never disappeared.
Eventually, one thing led to another, and I built MKE.BIKE.
The goal was to create one useful digital resource for Milwaukee: trails, live bikeshare availability, repair stations, parking, shops, events, group rides and places worth visiting by bike.
I built it because the information existed, but it was scattered across different maps, websites, apps and public data feeds. I wanted to bring it together and make it easier for people to use.
As the project grew, friends began encouraging me to take the idea to other cities.
Could I make one for Madison? What about Minneapolis? Could the same approach work in Chicago, Detroit and eventually cities throughout the country?
The answer was yes—but I also started to recognize the limitations of building a separate bike resource for every city.
MKE.BIKE was useful, but the underlying idea was much bigger than Milwaukee.
It was also bigger than bikes.
Bike culture can have strong opinions about the correct vehicle, the correct infrastructure and even the correct reason for riding. I understand those conversations, but I am less interested in defending one mode of transportation than I am in helping people.
I do not care whether someone is riding a road bike, an e-bike, a shared bike, a scooter or a skateboard. They might take a bus, transfer to a train and walk the final few blocks.
That is how people actually move through cities.
Then, during a visit to Chicago, the larger idea finally clicked.
I should not build a different app with a different name for every city.
I should build one platform, with one name, for everyone.
It would connect different ways of moving through a city, but it would also connect people with the reasons they wanted to go anywhere in the first place: art, music, food, parks, architecture, neighborhoods, local businesses, events and culture.
That was the moment Baiku was born.
Baiku is a mobility and city-discovery platform.
It is being designed to bring together shared bikes, e-bikes, scooters, transit, trails and walking connections. It can help people find live vehicle availability, comfortable routes, parking, repair stations, transit connections and useful local transportation information.
But Baiku is not simply another map.
It connects movement with culture.
A visitor might use Baiku to find an e-bike, follow a comfortable route, stop at a neighborhood café, discover a mural and arrive at an outdoor concert—all without needing a car or opening five different apps.
A resident might use it to discover a business, park or cultural destination only a few miles from home.
A parent could find a safe family ride and something fun to do along the way.
A local business or cultural organization could reach people who are already nearby and actively exploring.
A transportation provider could make its services more understandable and visible.
A city could use Baiku to connect mobility, tourism, economic development, public health and climate goals in one accessible public resource.
Over time, Baiku can also help communities understand what people are looking for, how they move between destinations and where important connections are missing. That information can help cities improve infrastructure, support local businesses and reduce the number of trips that require a car.
Baiku is currently self-funded and will grow gradually, city by city and feature by feature. I bring experience in marketing, digital products and civic collaboration, but I also know the project will be stronger with the right people involved. I am open to conversations with investors, transportation partners, cities, cultural organizations and others who see the potential in connecting mobility with local discovery.
The idea behind Baiku is simple: make it easier to move through a city, and more rewarding to notice what is there.
baiku.app · Built in Wisconsin