Two people die while trying to cross the street last week (updated)

Updated 12:53

2012 fatality stats*:
Pedestrian: 2
Pedalcyclist: 0
Transit: 0

Inspired by Ted Rogers’s blog, Biking In LA, and with a desire to give respect to the people who’ve died while walking, cycling, or using transit, I’ll be attempting to track these traffic fatalities. This is the first post of 2012.

It happened Thursday, February 9, 2012, on 95th Street near Cottage Grove Avenue. Here’s an article from the Chicago Tribune: Continue reading Two people die while trying to cross the street last week (updated)

Long hours, low pay, but lots of love – for bike messenging

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Michael Malone, photographed by Alex Weaver

Ed. note: This article was contributed by Alex E. Weaver, a grad student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The piece also appears on the Medill Reports website. Alex covers transportation issues facing Chicago commuters, with a focus on cycling and car culture.

It’s not every day that practitioners of a low-paying, service industry profession become fodder for major motion picture action thrillers or speak of their daily routine in terms of pride, competition and creativity. Then again, Chicago’s bike messengers are not your everyday delivery service. “Bike messengers get attention because there is something very romantic about the job,” said Jeffrey Kidder, a former bike messenger who has studied them. “It’s fast-paced, it’s physical, and it’s risky.”

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) last estimated that 300 bike messengers are operating in the city, completing more than 1.1 million deliveries annually. And while those numbers may have declined since the recession and the advent of e-mail, Chicago’s streets are still teeming with these daredevil bikers – third only, industry veterans say, to New York and Washington, D.C.

Continue reading Long hours, low pay, but lots of love – for bike messenging

Alderman interview series: Choose the next alderman

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“On Bicycles” contributors John and Greg Borzo are showing off what you can win if you vote for the next alderman to interview. Photo by Serge Lubomudrov

John has so far published interviews with four Chicago alderman about sustainable transportation in his project to interview all 50. He’ll publish an interview next week with 7th Ward alderwoman Sandi Jackson, upping the count to five. We’re hosting a contest on our Facebook page to choose the next alderman John should interview.

There are 5 randomly selected alderman listed as options and you can add your own suggestion: vote now!

We’ll hold a drawing this weekend, randomly choosing a voter to win one of two books: Bars Across America and On Bicycles.

The aldermen so far:

Chicago bike sharing: Where is it now? and other conversations

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A woman rides a bike sharing bike in Seville, Spain. Women may be an exclusive target market for bike sharing in Chicago where, as a portion of trips to work, make up only 25%. Photo by Claudio Medina. 

We’re expecting a bike sharing announcement very soon, within 1-2 weeks. I thought it would have happened by now, as the City gave itself a deadline of the new year. I can only guess how this delay will affect the launch. Before the announcement comes, though, I wanted to discuss a few ideas and concerns. So this isn’t much of an update but more like, “Hey, bike sharing’s still a thing even though you last heard about it in October!”

What is bike sharing?

It’s a new transit system, using durable bicycles that have lights, a few speeds, quality brakes, and a cargo basket, taking you from where you are to anywhere in the network, just like the CTA. You pick up a bike from Station A and drop it off at Station B. You pay a small membership fee for a month or a year, and all trips under 30 minutes are free*.

“Unless you walk to work, there’s simply no cheaper way to go,” said Josh Stephens, 37, of Adams Morgan [in  Washington, D.C.]. “The cost savings have been ridiculous.” Washington Post

Continue reading Chicago bike sharing: Where is it now? and other conversations

Talking Transportation with 47th Ward Alderman Ameya Pawar

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Continuing with our project to interview all 50 aldermen about sustainable transportation, I recently caught up with Ameya Pawar (A-MAY-ah Puh-WAR) at the 47th Ward service office, 4243 N. Lincoln. His ward includes parts of Lakeview, Roscoe Village, North Center, Roscoe Village and Lincoln Square.

After longtime alderman Eugene Schulter retired last year, Pawar ran a grassroots campaign that defeated Schulter ally Tommy O’Donnell, making Pawar Chicago’s first Asian-American alderman and, at age 30, the youngest current member of City Council. So far he’s shown himself to be a strong advocate for walking, biking and transit, as well as environmentally sustainable street design.

His staff includes Transportation Planner Bill Higgins, a former colleague of Steven’s from UIC’s urban planning program. After studying the ward’s existing bikeways, Higgins proposed building the city’s first neighborhood greenway (AKA bike boulevard, a traffic-calmed, bike-and-pedestrian-priority side street) in the ward on Berteau Avenue (4200 N.) from Lincoln Avenue to Clark Street.

In our interview, Pawar and I discussed his commuting habits, the upcoming Lawrence Avenue streetscape and road diet and the proposal for a new retail and housing development in conjunction with Metra’s Ravenswood station rehab. We also talked about plans for relocating bus stops, his idea to pilot Portland-style street murals as traffic calming, and whether Berteau is a good location for the neighborhood greenway.

Continue reading Talking Transportation with 47th Ward Alderman Ameya Pawar

Grid Shots: 1,000 photos in our Flickr group

Thank you for adding 1,000 photos of sustainable transportation in Chicago to our Flickr group. When you add your photos to our Flickr group, they will appear on the sidebar (scroll down and to the left) as well as on our photos page. And we look there to find photos to lead articles. Here are the latest five that were added.

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Photo of a Metra train on the BNSF track (to/from Aurora, Illinois) by Ben. Continue reading Grid Shots: 1,000 photos in our Flickr group