VisiCycle was born when the founder, Andrew Pitts, moved to Richmond, VA and noticed friction among drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Since he had no background in urban design or policy, Andrew instead approached the problem from an entrepreneurial product design perspective. He asked, “how might I encourage more people to choose bicycling rather than driving?”

After interviewing dozens of local bicyclists and drivers, Andrew found that about a third of Richmonders would prefer to bike short trips, but almost all choose to drive due to road safety issues. Andrew found that hand signaling visibility was one of the top concerns of both drivers and bicyclists. So, he tested multiple prototypes and landed on the Signal Band.