Writing about cities
Please lock your bike at least this well.
The Kryptonite u-lock secures the front wheel and frame to the bike rack. I took this photo of my own bike at UIC’s CUPPA Hall.
Additionally, lock your rear wheel using either a cable locked to the front u-lock, a second u-lock, or a cable with its own lock.
I write this article to all college students who choose to bike to class this semester (and any future semester). This post is a bit Chicago-centric, but can be applied universally.
Introduction
If you haven’t yet chosen to bike to campus, don’t read this – I’ve got another article in the works for you. Essentially, I gained my advice and education from information I found in multiple documents published by the Chicago Bicycle Program. But you can read my post in less than 10 minutes. I give my friends the same spiel, and now I’ve finally published it for everyone’s benefit.
My credentials: I’ve been commuting safely and effectively to the University of Illinois at Chicago campus for four years, attending undergraduate and graduate class. I’ve been bicycling all around Chicago (I can prove it with these maps) for the same period.
I divide my advice into three sections: Safety, Getting There, and The Right Equipment. You should have a copy of the Chicago Bike Map at your side (download as PDF; tambien disponible en espanol; request one to be mailed).
Safety
Safety is a combination of skills, following the rules of the road, and being alert.
You gain safe cycling skills by practicing safe cycling at all times on all roads upon which you cycle.
You most likely learned the rules of the road in high school driver’s education.
Bicyclists must follow the same traffic regulations as motorists (including stopping at yellow and red traffic lights). Additionally, you should practice several additional behaviors (found in the Sharing The Road section of the Bike Map):
Staying alert will help you avoid collisions and prevent you from getting boxed in by CTA buses. Part of being aware is being able to hear: Don’t use headphones while bicycling (this too is illegal).
Wanna see these tips in action? Watch the CDOT/Chicago Police video on traffic enforcement for bicyclist safety.
Getting There
You can journey safely by determining the best way to get to your destination. Mark your origin (home) and destination (school) on the bike map and then follow the bike lanes, marked shared lanes, and recommended routes to the end. Practice your trip with a friend during the day.
Indoor, sheltered bike parking at the recently reopened Damen Brown Line station.
Also consider making a multi-modal trip using transit. All CTA stations in Chicago have bike parking, and most Metra stations have bike parking. A bus will carry your bike for you at any time, and you can take your bike on the L outside of rush hours.
*More information on bikeway facilities in Chicago below.
The Blue Island bike lane on my way to class from Pilsen.
Try your hardest to never let a motorist scare you off the road with their hurtful and pointless words (or honking). You have the right to bike on the street. If you get into a verbal altercation with a motorist, TAKE A BREAK. Your adrenaline and heart rate will have increased, and emotions may decide your next move. Pull over and breathe. You need to stay in control of you, your bike, and your trip. If the motorist is operating their vehicle that’s a danger to you or other street users, pull over and immediately call 911 to report reckless driving.
Additionally, college campuses often have a lot of buses (either public transit or shuttles). Let the bus driver “do their thing” and don’t try to compete for space with the bus. Wait or signal and pass safely in the adjacent lane.
The Active Transportation Alliance, the Chicago bike advocate, has a crash support hotline: 312-869-HELP (4357).
The Right Equipment
To bike somewhere safely, you need the right equipment:
LIGHTS and a LOCK. Right now, throw away your cable lock. It’s completely useless unless part of a locking scheme that includes a high-quality u-lock.
Buy the most expensive, new u-lock you can afford. You spent a lot of money on your bike, so you should spend a little money on the device that will keep your bike yours! Once you buy, learn how to use it by following these depictions.
Chicago law requires a headlight, and a rear reflector or taillight. Forget the rear reflector – it’s close to worthless. You want road users to see your presence. So get two blinkies: a white light for the front, and a red light for the rear (with a rear light, you’ll be honoring the law). These two accessories will make you visible. Bike shops shouldn’t let you leave until you buy these or prove you already own a set.
If you want be really visible, you can get cold cathode fluorescent lights for your bike. I built this setup as a fun, DIY project.
More equipment you may want:
I built a pannier from a kitty litter bucket. My Nishiki Prestige parked at the UIC Richard J. Daley library.
*The bike map’s road designations are based on actual field observations completed several years ago by City and Active Transportation Alliance staff. Bike lanes, indicated by two white stripes, a bicycle symbol, and an arrow, are for the exclusive use of bicyclists. Marked shared lanes, shown with a bicycle symbol and two chevrons, tell motorists and bicyclists that this is a shared lane and motorists should expect a higher number of bicyclists than most streets. (All lanes in Chicago are shared lanes and bicyclists ALWAYS have the right to use the entire lane when the bicyclist feels they cannot safely share the lane with a motorist, or when changing lanes.)
What a new bike lane looks like (this is Clinton Street at the railroad crossing between Kinzie and Fulton).
A colleague at work pointed me to a Government Accounting Office (GAO) report titled, “Olympic Games: Federal Government Provides Significant Funding and Support,” which gives a little more explanation about the so-called “Federal Borrowed Bus Program” I wrote about in the previous post.
The report was published in September 2000. The most relevant part says, “[U.S. Department of Transportation] provided approximately $17 million to state and local transit and transit planning agencies to pay for the delivery, operation, and return of the 1,500 buses, which were borrowed from communities throughout the United States.”
I’m glad to know my question, “What is the federal borrowed bus program?”, has been partially answered. I’d like to know more about it, including how the funding is appropriated (is it in Congressional legislation or within the Department?), which communities provided buses to borrow, and the attitudes of the lending agencies about this program.
Other sections in the report my colleague pointed out:
What does the Chicago Olympic Committee’s bid book say about bicycling as part of the Olympic transportation system? A system that has to move 15,000 Games workforce, 30,000 athletes and their coaches and support staff, as well as 1.5 million everyday “background” users like you and me commuting? This:
“Travel by bicycles, always welcome in Chicago, will be used practically to augment the plan through the use of bicycle valet service near rail stations.”
The end.
This one line was found under section 15.10, “Public-Transport Network.” It’s public transport-related because the bike valet will be at CTA and Metra stations near the venues. Many of those stations are up to 1.6 miles away, according to the plan. These bicyclists will be expected to ride from hotel or home to the rail station nearest the Olympic venue, park, then board a shuttle bus.Â
The worst part of the statement within the bid book is that they felt compelled enough to insert the snide comment that bicycles are “always welcome in Chicago” as if readers may have been confused that Chicago would, in some way, disallow their use during the Olympic Games. Or, perhaps, historically, Chicago didn’t welcome bicycles. With this, I feel the bid book authors have never actually seen bicyclists in Chicago and had to learn this through secondhand communication – this is belittling and dismissive to bicyclists around the world.
The Olympic plan should use bicycling as a mode and opportunity to solve the complicated, expensive, and potentially messy transport issue. Bicyclists should be allowed to ride straight to the gate, which is where they would find bike valet service. And volunteers and staff can ride between gates, venues, and operations centers on bicycles. Instead, Olympic games workers will be driving singly in small SUVs or on Segways just like our public transport and police do now.
A final note on the use of shuttle buses: My concern is where these buses will come from, and what the CTA or other agency will do with them post-Games. According to section 15.11, “Fleet and Rolling Stock,” the Chicago Olympic games “will have access to the Federal Borrowed Bus Program.” What is the FBBP? The internet doesn’t know! A web search reveals one result: an entry on the CTA Tattler blog. No agency in this country has buses they can lend. A table in the bid book following this section, Table 15.11, has a column for transit fleet and rolling stock, and it’s conflicting or confusing. One column indicating the number of vehicles in possession now by various agencies, the next, a number to which these inventories will expand, and the third, the number of additional vehicles on hand for the Games. All rows in the third column indicate that NO additional vehicles will be needed for the Olympic Games – all agencies will have the necessary fleet vehicles to provide transport for the Olympic Games.
I don’t get it.
Pilsen is a neighborhood in Chicago’s Lower West Side that is made mostly of Mexican immigrants and descendants. It’s sister neighborhood is Little Village, which is close by to the southwest. I lived here for two years from 2006-2008.
When I moved in, the smoke from a nearby, but yet unseen, exhaust stack was quite apparent. An uninformed or malicious local offered that it was a heat generation plant for the nearby public housing homes. This seemed unlikely, and only slightly plausible, but I didn’t question it.
Both neighborhoods have coal-fired power plants. There is Fisk Generating Station at 1111 W. Cermak in Pilsen (which I mentioned above and pictured above), and Crawford Generating Station at 3501 S. Pulaski in Little Village. Both are owned by Midwest Generation
It was not long until I read several news reports in the major Chicago newspapers about the actions of local social advocacy organizations trying to bring awareness about the danger the Fisk plant was causing for the minority residents in Pilsen. The problems became well-known in 2001 after a group of five researchers from Harvard and two private consulting agencies (one for wind, and one for environment) studied coal-fired power plants in the Midwest exempt from the provisions of the Clean Air Act. See “More information” below for a local group’s opinion on these plants’ impacts on health using information derived from the study.
The most recent call for action was from the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, who, in August 2008, demanded that Mayor Daley close the Fisk plant on Cermak.
Now, the Sierra Club magazine is reporting on a new and younger organization ready and willing to fight alongside LVEJO the battle to fix the pollution problems in Chicago’s west side Latino neighborhoods. I recently read this article at work in our “office lending library” – this along with the fact that I pass by the station quite often prompted me to write this blog entry.
More information:
