Our 20-year Vision

Bold plans mean improved bicycling in Chicagoland

Our vision: Youth development connects communities

Our vision: Students walk and bike to school

Our vision: A blanket of bike plans

Our vision: Get in the game

Journey brings advocacy to next level

Outreach brings safe routes to schools, students

Events director takes on future of successful rides

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Our vision: A blanket of bike plans

Goal: 75 percent of the region covered in bike plans

Bike plans are integral to getting more people on their bikes. “Right now it is like a patchwork quilt,” says Chicagoland Bicycle Federation Deputy Director Nick Jackson. We want to fill in the missing pieces and blanket our region with both bike and pedestrian plans.

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation has already guided more than 25 bike plans throughout the region, from Homewood to Evanston.

But while some communities have highly developed plans, other communities have not taken any steps. These bike-plan-less localities can easily benefit from existing momentum if they start planning now, Jackson says.

A sign directing bicyclists to the Major Taylor Trail is an example of one component of an effective bike plan.

Chicagoland already has a good regional network of connecting trails and available resources, from funding to popular demand. If local communities don’t do their own plan, they will miss out on connecting to that larger network.
Communities planning bike plans had the opportunity be part of the process, shaping the final outcome and addressing goals that bicycling can help reach. Some results of a bike plan are bike lanes and a signage network, which Jackson says are some of the most effective ways to get more people bicycling.

Educational and encouragement programs are also critical in increasing bicycling, but that kind of programming is more effective if a plan exists.
We need local communities to take advantage of the infrastructure and benefits of bike plans and to start planning today with their communities and neighboring partners to create a world-class network.