CTA announces open fare system to come in 2014

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If the backside of your Chase Bank credit/debit card has the “blink” text and logo, you’ll be ready for Open Fare.

Soon you’ll be able to pay for a trip on Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buses and trains with your credit/debit card (provided it has an embedded wireless chip) and NFC-enabled cellphones. Currently all four credit card processors (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover) offer cards with contactless chips – they use RFID technology. The Samsung Nexus S is the only widely available cellphone with an NFC chip. This is all part of an upcoming system called Open Fare. It’s not the same as the regional fare payment system that Pace, Metra, and the CTA are legislated to provide by 2015 (where one fare payment method works on any transit vehicle, often called “universal fare”*). Continue reading CTA announces open fare system to come in 2014

Chicagoans offer tips to keep the pedals turning this winter

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Gin Kilgore rides with her son Miguel Burton-Kilgore. Photo by Martha Williams.

[This article also runs in Momentum magazine.]

It’s November and days are getting shorter and colder. If you live in the Upper Midwest or the Northeast, sleet, slush, snow and ice are just around the corner, so maybe you’re thinking about mothballing your bike for the next four months.

Instead, Gin Kilgore suggests you give cold-weather biking a spin. She helped found Bike Winter, a Chicago-based grassroots organization that promotes all-season cycling, with offshoots in St. Louis, Missouri, and Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. “Winter biking helps you stay active and in the sunshine all year, which is so good for the body and mind,” Kilgore says. “And it sure beats shivering at the bus stop.”

Continue reading Chicagoans offer tips to keep the pedals turning this winter

Win two books by liking us on Facebook

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Photo of cycling on the Lakefront Trail by Mike Travis. 

We’re trying to grow the number of people who “like” Grid Chicago on Facebook, a good place to publish our stories and engage readers. It’s an additional outlet for posting photos and timely information like events and construction updates. So we’re holding a contest where you can win two books:

It’s so easy to win: Just go to our Facebook page and click “Like” before November 26th (if you’re already a fan, then stay one). We’ll randomly pick a fan on November 26th.

Bicycling in Chicago, a view from the south side – part 1

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Bicycling on 76th Street, a recommended bike route under the Skyway and several railroad viaducts, and some of the poor conditions described below. Photo by Eric Rogers. 

Editor’s note: Anne Alt writes about cycling on the south side of Chicago, in two parts. -SV

Five years ago, I moved from Rogers Park to Beverly when my husband and I bought a house. I’d spent a fair amount of time riding on the south side, but didn’t fully appreciate how much more difficult it would be to ride to other south side destinations until I started doing it from here on a regular basis.

What’s different about riding on the south side? Continue reading Bicycling in Chicago, a view from the south side – part 1

Grid Shots: Pedestrian access edition

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The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) began construction Thursday, November 10, 2011, to restore a lighted signal and crosswalk at 500 S Lake Shore Drive. 

I went on a four-hour bike ride today to gather photos of interesting things, including people walking and cycling in the 65°F warm and windy weather. I came across several places where pedestrian access had become an issue. These issues were manufactured by construction projects, clashing with the City of Chicago’s Complete Streets policy. Continue reading Grid Shots: Pedestrian access edition

Martha Williams celebrates a year of two-wheeled fashion photography

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Martha Williams. Photo by Emma Arnold from the local street fashion blog Trés Awesome. All other images by Williams and featured on Bike Fancy.

Last year Time Out Chicago photographer Martha Williams began taking pictures of well-dressed people on bicycles and posting them on her blog Bike Fancy. She buttonholes good-looking cyclists she encounters while cruising the city, shoots portraits and interviews them about their rides and outfits, why they enjoy bicycling and their ideas for making Chicago more bike-friendly. Continue reading Martha Williams celebrates a year of two-wheeled fashion photography