You
can also view this issue at www.biketraffic.org/biketraffic/BT0803/
or download the PDF at www.biketraffic.org/biketraffic/BT0803.pdf.
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You're not a member? Good
god, not so loud. Someone might hear. After all, everyone's fed
up with traffic jams, tired of being afraid on the streets of
their own neighborhoods, sick of dirty air, and done with spending
the vacation money on a new transmission. So they've all joined
the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and are making a difference
(and getting discounts on maps, at bike shops, and events to boot).
So carefully now, slip off with this issue of Bike Traffic (another
member benefit) and call us or
join at www.biketraffic.org. That was close, but it's gonna
be okay. |
| Bikes
on some Metra trains for a few weekends.
As far away from regular service as ever and as limited as it was
last year, but AT LEAST IT'S SOMETHING, and it's still $5. And it's
still fun: check schedules and make your reservations at biketraffic.org. Olympic gold medalist Marty Nothstein will take the milk money from local hot shots at Northbrook Velodrome on August 14. But Marty's presence and a bumped-up purse will bring U.S. Postal pros and a Carney brother or two like blood brings sharks. Details at the 'drome's website. 15th Anniversary Boulevard Lakefront Tour September 14. The classic bike tour takes you on a leasurely ride around Chicago's "Emerald Necklace," the Burnham-designed sytem of boulevards and city parks. Register on-line only at biketraffic.org. Deadline for the October '03 Bike Traffic is September 8. You got an excuse? Let me tell you about this guy, Tyler Hamilton.... |
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Get our FREE Bike to Work Guide!
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One more time, with FEELING!!!!!! |
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Chicagoland
Bicycle Federation At 650 S. Clark: Randy
Neufeld Pamela
Brookstein Steve
Buchtel Dave
Glowacz Cathy
Haibach Nick
Jackson Eve
Jennings Matt
Maloney Anne
Nepokroeff Randy
Warren Alex
Wilson At
Chicago Department John
Greenfield T.C.
O'Rourke |
House Appropriations Committee nukes Enhancements
From America Bikes
with contributions by Steven Buchtel
Defying significant public support for such projects, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on July 24th approved a 2004 transportation budget that expressly eliminates funding for bicycle and pedestrian pathways as well as other community improvements.
Since
1991, federal transportation law has required that 10% of the surface transportation
funding allocated to states be set aside for Enhancements projects. Enhancement
projects can be broadly characterized as transportation projects that offset
the bias in state DOTs to fund road building and expansion projects. In
the Chicago region, Enhancements has funded tens of millions of dollars
worth of facilities and improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians. The
Enhancements requirement for 2004 would have made more than $600 million
available for such projects nationwide."We are extremely disappointed in the Committee's action today," says Martha Roskowski of advocacy group America Bikes. "Two weeks ago, Representative Istook (R-OK) wrote a subcommittee bill that stripped funding for Enhancements. After significant public pressure, Istook said he would offer an amendment to restore the funds. His amendment, which passed today, does nothing of the sort."
Representative John Olver (D-MA) led an attempt to restore the program in committee action, but the amendment failed by a 29 to 33 largely partisan vote with just two Republicans, Ray LaHood from Illinois and Mike Simpson of Idaho, supporting the measure. Rep. Mark Kirk (R) from Chicago's North Shore area voted to stop Enhancements. Possibly his lack of seniority among Republicans on the committee influenced his siding with the majority.
Since 1991, the Transportation Enhancements program has built 8000 bicycle and pedestrian projects in communities large and small across the country. "Transportation Enhancements account for less than two cents of every Federal surface transportation dollar," says Keith Laughlin, President of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. "For less than two cents per dollar we get a popular program that supports locally-initiated transportation projects in communities across America."
The bill will come up before the full House in early September. We expect an amendment will be offered to restore Enhancements funding. We're hoping it will be a bi-partisan amendment. Representatives will be in their districts in August, so please plan to talk with yours and ask him or her to support an amendment to restore funding for Enhancements by striking Section 114 of the 2004 Transportation Appropriations bill. Watch biketraffic.org and americabikes.org or call Chicagoland Bicycle Federation at 312/42-PEDAL for the bill number.
Bikes Win in Energy Bill
In that document full of concessions to Big Oil, Big Auto and Big Nukes is a gem of an ammendment that could start to mitigate some of the bill's giveaways. The Conserve by Bike Ammendment was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on July 25 as part of the federal Energy Bill. The House approved the same language for inclusion in their version of the Energy Bill, virtually ensuring the ammendment's survival in conference committee, from which the final bill will emerge for signing by President Bush.
The brainchild of Senator Dick Durbin with input from the Federation's Randy Neufeld, the Conserve by Bike amendment will authorize $5 million for 10 pilot projects nationwide that will use marketing and educational tools to increase the number of trips made by bicycle. The amendment also appropriates $750,000 for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a research project on converting car trips to bike trips. You can read the ammendment's language at biketraffic.org/durbin.html, and catch Senator Durbin's stirring introduction of the amendment at biketraffic.org/biketraffic/BT0403/.
Senate passage of the Energy Bill and conference consideration will not begin until after Labor Day. Once both chambers agree, the President must sign the bill into law before the USDOT can begin to determine what the pilot programs should look like. For more details on the Conserve by Bike Act, visit the League of American Bicyclists' Online Advocacy Center at www.bikeleague.org.
People Do: Bike to Work!
By Randy Warren
Bike to Work Week was a huge success in 2003 with the Bicycle Commuter Challenge participation rising over 30%. On top of the leader board are some familiar names while quite a few newcomers are also showing their commitment to making Chicagoland a better place through bicycle commuting.
The competition is getting stiffer every year with this year's winners bettering the winning percentage in every category over 2002. Three category winners for 2003 topped the 75% participation mark including SRAM Corporation, Center for Neighborhood Technology and The Pepper Group.
The winner of the Business/Non-Profit 500+ employees was first time participant Field Museum. After a strong challenge in the Public Agency 25-99 employee category from Kane County DOT in 2002, the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) recorded a record number of participants (44%) in 2003 to hold onto their title.
Three years ago, the Pepper group (nine employees) had just one employee participating in the challenge, last year they had four and this year they reached 89% participation with eight employees riding their bicycles at least part of the way to work during the challenge.
Each year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) handily wins their category. Looking for a new challenge to increase their 37 participants from 2002, this year they challenged a number of other EPA divisions across the country and established a system of team leaders throughout the organization. Their hard work paid off with 71 participants in 2003!
Even perennial winner SRAM Corporation jumped their winning percentage from 56% in 2002 to 78% in 2003.
Chicagoland does have companies who are making a difference. The driving force in each one of these organizations, however, is not usually the president or CEO; it is usually someone just like you who decided to rally their fellow employees to make a difference by encouraging bicycle commuting. If you were one of these people in 2003, congratulations! If not, you don't need to wait until 2004 to take action. Download the Bike to Work Guide and start helping people now and your organization can be ready to accept the Bicycle Commuter Challenge during Bike to Work Week 2004.
Category Winners:
Bicycle Related Business
Business/Non-Profit
Public Agency
BIKE PEOPLE PROFILE
Deborah Fagan
Trail System Coordinator, DuPage County
by Floyd Mittleman
Where will you find 282 miles of bikeways? In DuPage County, of course. And, who can we thank for helping to make this possible? Deborah Fagan. She's the Chief Planner and Trail System Coordinator for DuPage County. Deborah has a Master's Degree in Urban and Regional Planning and has been with the DuPage County for 15 years.
Of course, the 282 miles includes on-road marked bike lanes, designated streets, and the celebrated Illinois Prairie Path and the Great Western Trail. A brief bit of history: In 1963 a proposal was made to convert the abandoned rail line (the Chicago, Aurora, and Elgin) into a trail. In 1965 the Illinois Prairie Path was established as a not-for-profit corporation and it was this group that was instrumental in developing the trail. In 1986 the DuPage County Division of Transportation assumed responsibility for maintaining the path in DuPage County. Today Deborah is the trail's coordinator.
Major
new projects that Deborah is working on include a regional east-west trail
across the Southern part of DuPage County from the Hinsdale/Burr Ridge
area on the East to Naperville on the West, and a north-south trail through
the center of the county from the Roselle/Itasca area on the North to
Woodridge on the South. The North-South trail will run along or near the
East branch of the DuPage River. These trails will necessarily comprise
both on-road and off-road sections. They will pass through forest preserves
and cross over roads that are under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department
of Transportation, and will use county and local roads. Can you sense
the intergovernmental complexities of such projects? In addition to these
plans Deborah must keep in mind the Regional Bikeways Plan that promotes
the connection between Kane, Will, Cook, and DuPage counties. Deborah Fagan finds it very rewarding to be building a regional cycling network and she is delighted with the support that she receives from local governments and bicyclists and other trail users in DuPage. You can check the DuPage County web site for information about the bikeways: www.dupageco.org/bikeways.
First Bikes, Then Safety
Ambassadors in Austin take a different route
By Daphne Whitington
How
do you teach kids to bike safely when they don't have bikes that are safe
to ride?Safe Routes to School, a program of Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and the Chicago Department of Transportation designed to increase active transportation in Chicago students, came face to face with that dilemma one balmy June Sunday on the West Side.
After months of providing bicycle and pedestrian safety instruction to the nearly one thousand students at Nash Elementary, in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, Safe Routes organized a Family Bike Day to close out the school year.
Though the event listed bike repairs, as well as bike registration and helmet fittings, as a service to be offered, the day was primarily intended as a venue for on-bike training with Mayor Daley's Bicycling Ambassadors. When the Ambassadors rolled up an hour before the event was scheduled to start, there were already dozens of kids waiting with broken bikes. In fact, there were so few kids with working bikes that the on-bike training never happened. Instead the Bicycling Ambassadors rolled up their sleeves and went to work fixing brakes and chains and flats.
The event was only supposed to last for a few hours, but well into the evening the Nash playground was transformed into a makeshift bike shop. Hundreds of kids passed through, waiting hours for the chance to have their bikes repaired by the harried, exhausted Ambassadors and volunteers. Six refurbished kids' bikes, rescued from the basement bike room of a single Hyde Park condo, were also given out to bike-less students. "[It's] something we have never really done in the past: fixing kids bikes, and for free," said the Bicycling Ambassadors program coordinator, Eve Jennings. "That is a truly an awesome idea."
It was new terrain not just for the Bicycling Ambassadors, but also for Safe Routes to School programs nationally.These programs are typically based in affluent, white suburbs. They are designed and funded as encouragement programs that don't begin to address the needs of low-income, inner-city kids. It's going to require a serious paradigm shift for those needs to be met.
Clearly the barriers to walking and biking at a school like Nash, which is 100% low-income and 100% African American, are different than those encountered in Marin County, California, which has served as the model for Safe Routes programs nationally. Chicago's Safe Routes to School program is aiming to broaden the model, and the funding, to include students from Austin and Englewood and every other Chicago neighborhood. We're developing programs, partnerships, and curricula that address everything from broken bikes to street crime, and we're hoping to replicate the bike repair event all over Chicago.
If you're interested in volunteering, donating services or materials, or if you have any kids' bikes lying around your own basement, contact me at daphne@biketraffic.org.
Traffic Sign
"Blame the ex" beats "Share the Road"
By Steven J. Boime
After
I read that Boston Globe article ("Alternative Commutes," 6/8/2003) about
the guy who hung a "My ex-wife got the car" sign on his bike and found
he received more room on the road and even some attempted pickups by women,
I thought he might be onto something. I get my share of rude and obnoxious
drivers out in my area and figured it might be worth trying.I bought one of those 8" x 12" pieces of white foam presentation board and some stick-on vinyl letters and recreated his sign. With the nice horizontal bar on the back of my rolling Barco-Lounger seat (recumbent BikeE), I was able to hang it using cable ties and it hangs right below my rear light.
I have ridden to and from work with it this week and the early results are promising. I have heard many laughs, had people beep their horns after they pass me instead of before, and even had a couple of young women give me smiles, a thumbs up and an, "Oh, yeah!" My wife is as thrilled as the Boston guy's wife was about that part. An older couple pulled up next to me at a traffic light and told me they were glad I still have my sense of humor.
Even better, no one has cut me off, whizzed by too closely, thrown anything or yelled anything obnoxious or obscene at me. I don't usually get through two days without at least one of those things happening.
I really do have an ex-wife and she did get the better of the two cars we owned at the time. Now my wife and I only have one automobile, so I don't feel I'm being dishonest with my sign.
At the risk of starting a fad that robs the sign of its desired effect, this may be a valuable tool in the fight to get more respect on the road!
On a Bicycle Built for Poo
In this business, a commitment to change really is a load of crap
By Heather Convey
If last year you had told me that my next job was going to be cleaning dirty diapers I'd have been insulted. But that's exactly what I'm doing--and I couldn't be more proud.
Being
the doting owner of a bicycle-based cloth diaper delivery service has
its privileges. I've acquired three washing machines, a wicked custom-made
cargo bike, and believe me: no motorist dares get too close when they
get a whiff of the product I'm pushin'.I can't take credit for the genius idea of ABC Diaper Service. It's been around since 1995 when Medi Delorme decided to start a sustainable business that provides a basic service in a convenient, personal and affordable manner. Eight years later ABC is still delivering cloth diapers to families throughout Toronto's downtown neighborhoods.
Once a week customers receive a water-proof laundry bag full of clean, cotton diapers. The clean ones are dropped-off and the dirty nappies are picked-up. All deliveries are done by bicycle, rain or shine. Everything is brought back home, sorted and washed in all-natural detergent. Then the diapers are hung on the line to be bleached by the sun.
Initially I was drawn to this opportunity for many different reasons, including the flexible schedule. But it's the amazing people I've encountered along the way that makes each day a new adventure. Whether their customers or curious passesrby, I've met some of Toronto's most entertaining, creative, forward-thinking residents. The adults pushing their strollers seem cool, too.
I feel lucky to own a business that serves the needs of the community, and promotes physical fitness and sustainable living. But really, the greatest benefit of owning ABC has been getting to know my neighbors.
Crossing State Lines
Riding to Indiana isn't such a gamble anymore
By Jim Nugent
Going east from Chicago is tough if you're riding a bike. Northern Indiana is a transportation choke point; dozens of Interstates, railroads, pipelines, and highways skirt the south shore of Lake Michigan. Steel mills, harbor facilities, sand dunes and swampy marshland cause more travel distress. Add a sprinkling of broken glass, rough road joints, and a three-hour rush hour and many cyclists say, "no way!"
Life's a Beach
Things are changing though, some for the better. An interstate trail route is taking shape in Northern Indiana that makes it possible to cycle from Chicago to the Indiana Dunes and even on to Michigan utilizing a string of rail trails. Cycling from Hammond, Indiana to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore can now be done on 37 miles of rail-trail coupled with about 10 miles of regular roads. If you want to start your dunes trip from Navy Pier you'll need to ride about 25 miles in Illinois on the Lakefront and Burnham Greenway paths before picking up the Erie Trail Linear Park in Hammond, Indiana. Before you start print off maps and cuesheets at the following web sites:
The Erie Lackawanna Trail
If a smooth 25 to 30 mile ride is more your speed, take a round trip on the 14-mile long Erie Lackawanna (EL) Trail. Get started by putting your bikes on the car rack and heading for Highland, Indiana on Interstate 80/94. Get off at the Kennedy Ave. exit and go a half mile south. There's free parking and the EL Trail can be accessed under the Ridge Road overpass. The EL Trail south of Highland is a spotless 12-foot wide asphalt ribbon that meanders down a 250-foot wide right-of-way featuring newly planted trees, fountains, benches and shelters. A few miles south and you'll be in Griffith, Indiana. Griffith, an old railroad town where three mainlines crossed, has a historical railroad park with rolling stock and buildings. The manicured lawn fades into tall meadow grasses as the EL Trail continue south toward Crown Point. You'll see old farms and new subdivisions along this section. If you're thirsty, there's a CVS drugstore on Main Street, a quarter mile east of the end of the trail. Downtown Crown Point would be a mile and a half further south. To make a full day of it, grab dinner at a local restaurant and take in the five-o'clock movie at Highland's Town Theatre. Be prepared: The Town Theatre, Chicago Southland's "Music Box," serves coffee, cake, and cookies at intermission along with its first run movies. http://towntheatre.net
Hobart to the Lake
If 20 miles by bicycle, followed by a cool dip in Lake Michigan, and then a 20 mile return ride sounds good, you might want to drive over to Hobart, Indiana. Pick up the Prairie Duneland (PD) trail at the corner of State Route 51 and Cleveland Ave. and head east for Chesterton on the paved PD trail. You'll need the map you printed earlier from members.csinet.net and this one: www.nps.gov/indu/index.htm
More Info
Another good source of information is the Hoosier Rails-to-Trails council website. Indianatrails.org has maps, photos, and the latest news on trail projects throughout Indiana.
When you drive, you're still a bicycle advocate. Or you could be. Click the sign above to take the pledge. Or read about the Driver's Pledge in the December 2002/January 2003 Bike Traffic.
First Suburban Members Meeting! North suburban bicycle coordinator Steven J. Boime hosts the first of many suburban member meetings August 18. Federation members and other bicyclists in or around Wheeling, Buffalo Grove, Prospect Heights, Arlington Heights and Mt. Prospect will gather (yes, you will) for an introductory meeting regarding issues affecting bicyclists and pedestrians. The goal: develop a north suburban bicycle agenda. Meeting place: Wheeling Park District Community Recreation Center, 333 W. Dundee Road. For more info, call Steven at 847/571-6173, or e-mail him.
Illinois kids deserve Safe Routes to School! The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the League of Illinois Bicyclists, The Center for Neighborhood Technology and Children's Memorial Hospital are building momentum and resources to pass a statewide Safe Routes to School bill. This grand plan needs folks to testify at a public hearing early in the school year on why Illinois needs a Safe Routes to School bill. The tentative hearing date is September 4. Contact Gin Kilgore at gin@cnt.org or 773/278-4800 x115.
Encountering Ardmore's Parisian-style bike route pavement markings, French visitor Emil Hinault is momentarily overcome with deja vu. Does he feel grateful for the new markings? Does he long for his home? Ah, enigmatic Emil!
Pedal to Pennant? Hey, they're only two games out! The Cubs will park your bike for free in their secure lot at the corner of Clark and Waveland. The lot opens two hours before game time, and closes one hour after the fat lady sings. You know, maybe Sammy should pedal for pennance.... I know, I know: put a cork in it!
AAA joins the Club. The national American Automobile Association (AAA) have dropped their patron membership in the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA). AAA's membership allowed AHUA, an organization financed largely by road construction, oil, and automobile manufacturing interests, to claim to speak for AAA's 45 million members while lobbying Congress. Travel services upstart Better World Club has been aggressively attacking AAA for its coziness with the AHUA, a coziness many regional AAA chapters still maintain. Click here for info on Better World Club.
Bike Trafficis published by the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, a nonprofit, volunteer advocacy organization that is improving the quality of life in Northeastern Illinois by making cycling safer, more convenient, and more fun. All material that isn't copyrighted may be reprinted. Advertising rates available on request.
Managing Editor
Steve Buchtel
Editors
Randy Neufeld
David Callahan
Lisa Phillips
Layout
Steve Buchtel
Copyright
2003, Chicagoland Bicycle Federation
650 S. Clark, Ste. 300, Chicago, Ill. 60605
Ph: 312/427-3325 Fax: 312/427-4907 E-mail:
cbf@biketraffic.org
