Emanuel's transition plan serious about active transportation

From our blog, copied/pasted below.

 

Thanks,
Ethan Spotts, Marketing & Communications, Active Trans

 

Submitted by Rburke on Wed, 05/11/2011 - 3:52pm

Emanuel's transition plan serious about active transportation

 

Yesterday, Mayor-Elect Emanuel unveiled his transition plan. The 71-page plan—which covers the full spectrum of city services and operations—offers no shortage of goals that relate to biking, walking and transit.

Overall, we find the plan very encouraging. We’re excited about the goal of building 25 miles of protected bike lanes each year. This will help create a cycling network that allows Chicagoans of all ages and abilities to feel safe riding on city streets.

Creating a robust public bike share system within Emanuel’s first year in office will offer more opportunities for getting around by bike—whether you own a bike or not.

The Bus Rapid Transit corridor mentioned in the plan, on either Western Ave. or Ashland Ave., would run the length of the city and have the potential to connect communities, destinations and train lines across the city. This would be a great step toward increasing transit opportunities quickly.

Finally, we are very pleased with the prospect of Chicago creating and implementing its first pedestrian plan, which will provide a roadmap for building and maintaining streets that are safer and more inviting for people who walk.

These are important steps that will allow Chicago to reclaim its place as a world-class city for active transportation. We’re excited to work with Mayor-elect Emanuel, the Chicago Department of Transportation and CTA to achieve these goals and go beyond them.

 

 

 

 

 

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on May 11, 2011 at 11:06am

This all sounds good, but I wonder sometimes whether sexy new projects take emphasis away from nuts-and-bolts work that just doesn't seem to get done. Some touch-up paint and pothole repair on South Shore Drive and Halsted would go a long way, for instance. Great to have 25 new miles of protected lanes, fancy bike parking at the single intersection in the city that least needs it and so on but...

(This said, some maintenance is being done: Once you get past South Shore Drive the rest of the route leading to Calumet Park and the Burnham Greenway has been freshly paved and painted, which is pretty sweet. Hoping north siders don't catch on so I can keep on doing pitifully slow laps at Calumet Park without anyone else around!)

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on May 12, 2011 at 5:30am

Good points, thoughts and questions, Dr. D and Mr. K. Esq.

 

We are excited about this plan for its boldness but maintenance must be kept up. We are excited about aldermen who are using menu money and push for money for upkeep and improvements. There's certainly an overall need for more money for this type of work (big plans and upkeep). There are wards like 49, 35, 1, 42, 43, etc. that are doing upkeep and new projects...good stuff in small steps.

 

For the Queen's Landing thought, the upcoming Chicago Pedestrian Plan is the best opportunity to get that back on people's minds. There will be public meetings around this city this summer to secure input on the city's pedestrian goals. Active Trans will be working with the CDOT Pedestrian Program and other partners to spread the word about those meetings.

 

Thanks much,

Ethan, with Active Trans

Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on May 12, 2011 at 6:48am
Rahm supporting Green alternative energy and transportation policies isn't really a shocker.  What I REALLY want to know is his position on the unregulated bike rides in the city? Especially the few that achieve a thousand plus participants or the ones that are clothing optional.
Permalink Reply by Jason W on May 12, 2011 at 9:50am
Hey Ethan, how about lobbying for some driver education, and getting police to enforce the laws that protect bikes. Who has the link to that article that showed police writing a handful of tickets for the laws that protect bikes, while writing thousands to cyclists. Shameful if you ask me, and IMHO the most important for making this a bike friendly city. After all, you can't put protected bike lanes everywhere...
Permalink Reply by Duppie on May 12, 2011 at 10:12am
I don't think anyone has that link, because I do not for one second believe that that is a what happens in Chicago.

Jason W said:
Hey Ethan, how about lobbying for some driver education, and getting police to enforce the laws that protect bikes. Who has the link to that article that showed police writing a handful of tickets for the laws that protect bikes, while writing thousands to cyclists. Shameful if you ask me, and IMHO the most important for making this a bike friendly city. After all, you can't put protected bike lanes everywhere...
Permalink Reply by Jason W on May 12, 2011 at 10:46am

Well, I can't find the exact article I read, but it is around here somewhere, or maybe on the CCM listserv, or maybe a link from a link from a link when I was surfing...

 

anyway here is an article that says since 2008 they have only issued 5 tickets for passing at an unsafe distance, and none for opening a door into the bike lane. I will repeat... SHAMEFUL!

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-20/classified/ct-met-get...

 

I think Active Trans does some good work, but I also think they need more focus on education and law enforcement. I may not be popular with the bureaucrats and cops, but it needs to be done. Most of the cager idiots think they can pass as close as they want, and a dooring is the cyclists' fault.

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on May 12, 2011 at 12:27pm

Jason, you are absolutely correct, we do need to do more work on education and encouraging enforcement. Our board is committed to raising money to increase our ability to work in those specific areas. I would imagine that over the next several years, you'll see more from Active Trans to increase enforcement and add educational opportunities.

 

Thanks much,

Ethan, with Active Trans

Permalink Reply by Active Transportation Alliance on May 12, 2011 at 1:27pm

Oh, one additional note...we are working hard (we've had discussions with Ray Lahood and other major players) about overhauling drivers education so that it includes a week of education about biking, walking and transit. It's a long-term goal and shift in thinking, but something we are working on.

 

We have done some Drive with Care efforts in the past and have worked to secure a lot of distracted driving laws/ordinances but, it's true that without enforcement, they aren't effective.

 

We'll keep pushing on this, of course!

 

Thanks,

Ethan, with Active Trans

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on May 12, 2011 at 2:00pm

How about just patching the sides of the streets?  It seems like the city streets get worse every year and the area where bikes tend to ride are the very worst.  Some of the crevasses seem like they go down all the way to the centre of the earth. 

 

25 miles of new protected bike lanes a year is nice but if 350 miles of bike lanes crumble every year and nothing is done about it we are going backward. 

Permalink Reply by Duppie on May 12, 2011 at 2:29pm

I think you should give active Trans more credit.

Before you go kick down Garry McCarthy's door demanding more enforcement of the dooring ordinance, you better make sure you have some hard numbers to back up your claim that dooring is an issue that needs to be dealt with.

 

That is why Active Trans publicly shaming IDOT to start recording dooring crashes such a big deal. We can replace hearsay, opinions, and anecdotal evidence with hard facts. The next step will be, as Ethan says, using those facts to make changes in enforcement.

 

In the meantime, keep up the search for that link that details those thousands of tickets written to cyclists ;)



Jason W said:

Well, I can't find the exact article I read, but it is around here somewhere, or maybe on the CCM listserv, or maybe a link from a link from a link when I was surfing...

 

anyway here is an article that says since 2008 they have only issued 5 tickets for passing at an unsafe distance, and none for opening a door into the bike lane. I will repeat... SHAMEFUL!

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-20/classified/ct-met-get...

 

I think Active Trans does some good work, but I also think they need more focus on education and law enforcement. I may not be popular with the bureaucrats and cops, but it needs to be done. Most of the cager idiots think they can pass as close as they want, and a dooring is the cyclists' fault.

Permalink Reply by Jason W on May 13, 2011 at 3:22am

It is great to hear you are committed to education and enforcement, not just infrastructure improvements. This idea sounds like a creative way to educate new drivers. Education is tough, as it is hard to get people to listen. It does need to be done though, and IMO probably the most important thing. Frankly we have some pretty good bike laws right now, but no one knows them.

 

I'm curious, when you guys got the "cars must stop for people in crosswalks" law passed there seemed to be a little enforcement immediately after. Was there any sort of sustained effort on CPD's part, and were you happy with their response?


Active Transportation Alliance said:

Oh, one additional note...we are working hard (we've had discussions with Ray Lahood and other major players) about overhauling drivers education so that it includes a week of education about biking, walking and transit. It's a long-term goal and shift in thinking, but something we are working on.

 

We have done some Drive with Care efforts in the past and have worked to secure a lot of distracted driving laws/ordinances but, it's true that without enforcement, they aren't effective.

 

We'll keep pushing on this, of course!

 

Thanks,

Ethan, with Active Trans

Permalink Reply by Jason W on May 13, 2011 at 3:22am

That article says all that needs to be said, with hard numbers from a reputable news source...  I'm not sure why you're attacking my post, but I don't believe most cyclists would find 5 tickets for dooring and the 3 foot rule in a 3 year period acceptable. Do you?


Duppie said:

I think you should give active Trans more credit.

Before you go kick down Garry McCarthy's door demanding more enforcement of the dooring ordinance, you better make sure you have some hard numbers to back up your claim that dooring is an issue that needs to be dealt with.

 

That is why Active Trans publicly shaming IDOT to start recording dooring crashes such a big deal. We can replace hearsay, opinions, and anecdotal evidence with hard facts. The next step will be, as Ethan says, using those facts to make changes in enforcement.

 

In the meantime, keep up the search for that link that details those thousands of tickets written to cyclists ;)

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