SmartBike DC

By John Greenfield

Wouldn’t it be cool if there were a bunch of locations in downtown Chicago where you could rent a bike at the spur of the moment, allowing you to make connections between other transportation modes, run errands or go on a spontaneous cruise?

This is already the case in Washington, D.C. On a recent visit to our nation’s capital, I met with Jim Sebastian, Supervisory Transportation Planner for the district’s department of transportation. He showed me around the city’s new public, self-service bike rental program, SmartBike DC, the first of its kind in the U.S.

Automated bike rental is already commonplace in Europe with various services now established in several French, German, Spanish and Scandinavian cities. Established last year, Paris’ Vélib’ service has become the leader with 20,000 bikes available from 1,450 kiosks, located every thousand feet or so in the city center.

Jim Sebastian

I met with Sebastian outside his office at one of the ten existing rental racks, holding a grand total of 120 bikes, near Metro rapid transit stations scattered evenly throughout the central city. Unlike many of the European services which allow anyone with a credit card to rent a bike, for now Smartbike DC requires users to sign up in advance on line, pay a one-time $40 use fee, and wait to receive a swipe card in the mail. Swiping the card at the bike rental rack allows you to un-dock one of the bikes; at the end of your session you place the bike back into the rack and it locks automatically.

“I don’t think we’ll go to the Paris model where all you need is a credit card,” says Sebastian. “I could steal your credit card, swipe it into the system and make off with a bike and you’d be responsible.” He adds that while Washington’s bike infrastructure has improved in recent years, it’s still not up to Parisian standards, so it might not be a good idea to have tourists using automated rental bikes in hectic D.C. traffic. “That’s a crazy combo I think,” he says.

D. C.’s system was created as part of the city’s recent contract with Clear Channel Outdoor to provide bus shelters with advertising placards, similar to Chicago’s deal with JC Decaux which led to the installation of thousands of bus shelters at no cost to the city. Clear Channel provides the district’s bikes and other hardware and handles the day-to-day operations of the rental system.

Chicago has been kicking around the idea of an automated bike rental system for a few years now, but it’s going to take some time before we get one. According to CDOT spokeswoman Maria Castaneda, last year the City put out a request for proposal for such a program. They received two responses, but neither was deemed a good fit for Chicago because they did not meet the City's criteria of offering bikes at low cost or no cost to users.

Earlier this year JC Decaux submitted a proposal to add a bike-rental component to the existing bus shelter contract, says Castaneda. Currently the City is reviewing that proposal, while also considering issuing a new RFP to seek more proposals. Castaneda adds that Chicago is looking at existing programs like Vélib’ and SmartBikes DC to determine how many bikes and which locations would work best for our town, as well as to determine the fee structure and liability issues.

D. C.’s bikes are designed to be comfy, low-maintenance and theft-resistant. With their small frames, ape-hanger bars and unevenly sized wheels they look a bit like clown bikes. Full fenders, a chain guard and a three-speed internally-geared hub makes them weather-resistant while motion- and light-sensitive head and taillights ensure that if it’s dark out and you’re riding, the bike is illuminated. A front luggage rack is handy for stowing a bag or briefcase. “I call it the no excuses bike,” says Sebastian.


To deter thieves from stripping off components, the bicycles feature unique parts that are not compatible with other bikes. The bolts require a special star-shaped wrench. While the Parisian system provides skimpy cable locks to riders, SmartBikes DC requires users to bring their own locks, unless they are just taking a bike from one rental rack to another across town. But Paris loses about 300 bikes a year, according to Sebastian.

Helmets are also BYO and are strongly encouraged but not compulsory. Members are obliged to sign a document saying that they’ve read the booklet Safe Cycling in Washington, D.C., based on a guide written for the City of Chicago by Dave “Mr. Bike” Glowacz.

Each D. C. rental rack has slots for 9-15 bikes but to allow some “slack” in the system they are not fully stocked each day, so there’s space for parking bikes that have been ridden from other locations. A special van that can carry nine bikes at a time is used for redistributing bikes and maintaining them.

Sebastian let me take one of the bikes on a test ride on a few blocks of bike lane streets. With its fat tires and upright sitting position, the bike was a lot of fun to ride. It seems like a design that would be comfortable for users of various sizes and experience levels.


Afterwards, Sebastian updated me on other bike and pedestrian initiatives in Washington. He’s got a handful of staffers working under him: one coordinates bike lane and bike rack installation; another plans off-street bike trails; another deals with ped issues; another is responsible for a Safe Routes to School initiative; and another works on programs to promote transit use and ride sharing.

There used to be only a few bike lanes in this city of about 600,000 (5.3 million metro) but within the last few years they’ve reached 37 miles of lanes. This compares favorably to the roughly 110 miles in Chicago, with a population about five times as large.

The District has installed about 900 on-street bike parking racks. Sebastian says the district has been successful in encouraging office building managers to provide bike parking inside the garages. “It’s a carrot approach,” he says. “we can provide them with ‘U’ racks on rails, but often the company will buy their own racks.”

The District recently broke ground for a new bike station at D.C.’s Union station, a hub for Amtrak, commuter rail and Metro trains. Currently there is space for 50 bikes outside the station but theft and vandalism are common. The 500 square-foot bike station will provide secure indoor parking for 150 bikes, using the same Josta brand double-decker racks that were installed in Chicago’s Millennium Park Bike Station, as well as rental and sales of bike accessories.

Chicago's first elevated railway

By John Greenfield

[This piece also ran in Time Out Chicago magazine, www.timeoutchicago.com]

On May 27, 1892, the Windy City’s first elevated railway, the steam-powered Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad, AKA the “Alley ‘L,’” rumbled into action, leaving from a downtown station at 550 S. Holden Ct., a glorified alley between State and Wabash. “This essentially helped put Chicago on the map as a major metropolitan area,” says CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski. Tracks were erected above City-owned alleys all the way to 39th St., bypassing an 1872 law requiring signatures from adjacent property owners to build along streets. 300 VIPs boarded the six-car train for the 3.6-mile maiden voyage to the Spartan south terminal at 39th. There a dining car was added so a nosh could be served to the bigwigs on the return trip. Soon afterwards public service commenced with trains running as frequently as every 2.5 minutes for the 5-cent, 14-minute, one-way run. The downtown station was decommissioned in 1949 and a parking garage built around it in the ‘50s; in 1998 both structures were demolished to make way for a surface lot.

Strange signage on the lakefront path

By John Greenfield
Photos by Hui Hwa Nam

Lakefront path at Lawrence Ave.

Q: What's up with those signs in Uptown where streets cross the Lakefront Trail? Are cars are supposed to stop for bicycles or are bikes supposed to yield to cars?

A: This unusual signage is at Montrose, Lawrence and Foster, where the path not only intersects these east-west streets but also meets on- and off-ramps from Lake Shore Drive. Street traffic gets stop signs while cyclists and skaters on the trail get yield signs.

According to CDOT spokesman Brian Steele, the path used to cross these streets about 50 feet east of the LSD ramps and there were no signs for either street or trail users at the crossings. Recently the city improved the path at these locations by widening it and adding soft-surface jogging lanes.

View from LSD off-ramp at Montrose Ave.

CDOT also opted to bend the trail west towards the ramps, creating curves in the path that encourage bikers and bladers to slow down. The new layout also means cars are already stopped when they encounter trail users. Since there’s usually more traffic on the path than the roadways, non-noxious transportation gets the right of way.

So why the yield signs? Just like on-street yield signs, these direct folks on the path to slow down or stop when necessary, says Steele. “I don’t believe these intersections are confusing to any of the users and they’re certainly a much safer environment than the old configuration.”

View from the Lakefront Trail at Montrose

Randy Warren from Chicagoland Bicycle Federation disagrees. “These signs are completely inappropriate,” he says. “Bicyclists are being told to yield to stopped traffic.”

Warren thinks the ensuing confusion may be causing crashes. “I got a call from an insurance company after a cyclist got hit,” he says. “It wasn’t clear who had the right of way. The motorist was saying the cyclist was supposed to stop for him. The signs just don’t make sense.”

Sunday Parkways throws a bash on the boulevards

by John Greenfield
[This piece runs in this week's New City magazine.]

Sunday morning and Humboldt Boulevard, usually dominated by speeding metal boxes, is filled instead with smiling faces: tots on trikes, parents with strollers, joggers, bladers and every kind of bicyclist. It’s like a more family-friendly Critical Mass, minus the pissed-off motorists. Are we in some alternate universe?

No, says a green-skinned alien who’s waving to folks as they roll past a temporary skate park that’s been set up for the occasion, hip-hop on the sound system. He’s actually 50-ish Rafael Boria, in costume to promote his son’s skateboard company, but he refuses to break character. “Coming from planet Yuron, I am pleased to see you Earthlings have created this inviting environment,” he monotones.


It’s Sunday Parkways, the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s scheme to turn roadways into temporary car-free space for healthy recreation, inspired by Bogota, Colombia’s Ciclovia (“Cycle Way” in Spanish) which draws up to two million residents every week to play on a seventy-mile street network.

The bike federation is staging two three-and-a-half-mile pilots of the program along Chicago’s boulevard system this month: last week’s North Side route which winds from Logan Square’s Centennial Monument to Garfield Park; and another test on October 26, from Garfield Park to 24th and California in Little Village. The federation organized and paid for these events but hopes to persuade Mayor Daley, an outspoken cycling advocate, to fund and expand Sunday Parkways next year.


Just south of the eagle-topped monument in Logan Square, Armitage Baptist Church has set up a makeshift café, handing out free java to fuel the cyclists. A few blocks down the route an “activity station” at Palmer Square Park hosts aerobics, yoga and fencing demos. “This is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors,” says Gloria Alcala, watching with her daughters Viviana, 9, and Valeria, 7, who have balloon animals tied to the front of their two-wheelers.


Marcus and Juvy Radford push their daughter Zoe, 2, past the Humboldt Park boathouse, where salsa dancing, a steel drum concert and capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines combat with music and dance, take place. “I think we should have this more often—and later in the day,” says the drowsy mom. A Henry Rollins lookalike pedals by, carrying a female friend in the front cargo hold of his Dutch work bike.


At the south end of the route in Garfield Park, at a live taping of the local TV show “Chic-A-Go-Go,” hostess Miss Mia and her puppet sidekick Ratso are leading a crowd of kids and their parents in line dances like the Cuban Shuffle, the Soulja Boy and the Cha-Cha Slide. They’re swarmed by a flock of Canada geese and Park says, “We’re trying to get geese to dance with us.”

At 1pm, just before rain sets in, city workers start moving traffic cones and barricades to open the streets to motorized traffic. “Oh, they’re letting the cars back in,” says a hipster. “Yeah,” replies a senior. “That sucks.”

A memorial for Blanca Ocasio

by John Greenfield

On Thursday, September 11, over 150 relatives, friends and neighbors gathered in Logan Square to honor Blanca Ocasio, placing a “ghost bike” at Armitage and Kedzie where she was struck one year ago. Ocasio, a 19-year-old pharmacy student nicknamed “Chi-chi,” was pedaling eastbound on Armitage when a garbage truck overtook her and swung south onto Kedzie, trapping her underneath.

Six months later schoolteacher Amanda Annis, 24, was killed on her bike at the same location after a car ran a red. The advocacy group Logan Square Walks is lobbying for safety improvements at the intersection such as adding a red light camera, tightening curb radii and striping bike lanes; workers recently repainted the crosswalks and stop bars.

Ocasio’s family requested the memorial from Chicago Ghost Bikes, which has installed several other tributes to fallen cyclists. The crowd assembled at Palmer Square, two blocks north of the intersection, many wearing t-shirts with Ocasio’s image and messages like “Lost a friend but gained and angel,” and “R.I.P. Chi-chi girl.” Blanca’s father Ramon told them, “As she looks down from heaven at us I know that she’s smiling,” urging them to be careful when driving.

Her loved ones then walked with lit prayer candles to the crash site, followed by dozens of cyclists walking their vehicles. After the white bike was chained to a light pole, mourners added candles and flowers. Chicago Ghost Bikes’ Howard Kaplan hoped the event provides closure for Ocasio’s family, adding “They probably feel they’re a little less alone with their loss.”

Biking to work on Inauguration Day

Kathy Schubert and Steve Timble

By John Greenfield

Each year Active Transportation Alliance (formerly Chicagoland Bicycle Federation) holds Winter Bike to Work Day on January 20, marking the anniversary of Chicago’s coldest day in modern history. This year the date happened to coincide with the most memorable inauguration in modern history, when Chicago’s own Barack Obama became our nation’s first African-American president.

The alliance commemorates that frosty day in 1985 - when temperatures at O’Hare Airport hit 27 below zero with wind chills as low as 93 below - and celebrates cold-weather commuting by serving breakfast to bicyclists at Daley Plaza. This year dozens of folks showed up for a healthy combo of cocoa and cheesecake, mingling on the plaza’s incredibly cold granite surface for as long as their feet could stand it.

I interviewed the cyclists about the significance of biking to work in freezing weather on the day of Obama's inauguration. They also told me whether they believe the progressive new president will have a positive impact on walking, biking and transit in the U.S.

Randy Neufeld

“Winter Bike to Work Day is a fun way to get people thinking about biking in the toughest conditions they can imagine,” said Randy Neufeld, Chief Strategy Officer for the advocacy group, at 8:30 am. “We also happen to have only about two and a half hours left of George Bush.”

Neufeld said the most significant aspect of the new regime for transportation is that Democrats will dominate Congress. “A new transportation funding bill is coming up this year and [Minnesota congressman] Jim Oberstar is in charge of the process,” he said. “He’s a friend of mine and a friend of cycling. That coupled with an administration that is going to be open to some major changes means we’re likely to win big.”

He said his biggest hope for the bill is that major financial incentives can be put in place for state and municipal governments to promote non-noxious travel modes as a way to fight climate change. “If you put a carrot out there that encourages [local governments] to reduce emissions, they’re going to go for that money.”

Cyclist Jeff Bar said he bikes to work every day, so riding on Inauguration Day has no special significance for him. “I hope there will be some positive changes for biking but I’m a little cynical,” he said. “At least we’ll have the right guy in office.”

Jeff Bar

Steve Timble, Associate Publisher of the Chicago Reader dropped by the plaza before checking on employees passing out copies of the paper’s special inauguration issue on State Street. A longtime bike commuter, he had opted for the El train that morning.

“This is a very special day to be biking or taking transit to work,” he said. But he cautioned that while having a progressive president in office will help with transportation change, work has to be done on a micro level as well. “For example, if you want to get a bike bridge built in your community you need to work with your alderman, mayor or congressman.”

He said the upside of the down economy is that this is a great time to be advocating for appropriate transportation. “CTA ridership is at an all-time high – that’s what I’m jazzed about.”

Bike activist Kathy Schubert said that with a failing economy and two wars to deal with, Obama shouldn’t be expected to solve all the nation’s transportation woes as well. “He’s got so much on his plate he can’t possibly get to everything.”

William James

William James, who immigrated from England 35 years ago, confessed that the free breakfast coaxed him back on his bike for the first time in a month and a half. Dressed in thin layers, he said he said he was toasty warm despite the brisk weather. “The secret is a bottom layer of cashmere.”

“I think there is some symbolism here,” said James. “We’re hoping that the new president will be a lot more proactive on green initiatives. I think there’s going to be a general elevation in the public consciousness about saving energy and reducing one’s carbon footprint. Personally, I’m hoping for a revolution.”

Stacey Meekins

Asked whether Obama can make a difference in encouraging healthy travel modes, transportation planner Stacey Meekins said, “God, I hope so. It’s still an uphill battle but we have a better shot now with someone who will listen. But it doesn’t come down to just one person.”

“I’m super stoked,” said traffic engineer Dave Miller. “I think Obama shows the kind of priorities we want to see. But we need to keep pressing elected officials to improve cycling.”

Lauren Sailor, far left; Dave Miller, far right

“The most important thing is your personal transportation choices,” said Lauren Sailor. She had just passed out about 20 homemade balaclavas on behalf of Bike Winter, a grassroots group that promotes all-season cycling. “Change starts with the individual.”

CBF becomes ATA: change for the better?

by John Greenfield
[This piece also runs in the current Momentum magazine, www.momentumplanet.com.]


Would a safe-roads group by any other name still sound as sweet? The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation (CBF) – Chicago metro area’s cycling voice since 1985 and the largest bike advocacy organization in the US – hopes so.

For years, the Federation has promoted cycling both for recreation and local transportation; lobbied the City of Chicago to provide lanes, paths, and racks; encouraged suburban municipalities to create bike plans, and organized cycling events like Bike the Drive which bans cars each year on Chicago’s lakefront superhighway to make way for over 20,000 pedallers.

In recent years the organization has also become Chicago’s de facto pedestrian and transit advocacy group, providing consultants for the City’s Safe Routes to School program, winning bike access on all three local transit systems, drawing attention to pedestrian safety with its Drive With Care media campaign, and organizing the city’s first Ciclovia, Sunday Parkways. Footprints, a new program in the south suburbs modeled after Australia’s TravelSmart initiative, is giving folks the tools to switch car trips to healthier modes.

This last November, at the CBF’s annual membership meeting, the board announced they had changed the name to Active Transportation Alliance to better reflect the group’s expanded mission. With the transformation, the organization follows the lead of New York’s Transportation Alternatives, which has historically been the nation’s leading multi-modal advocacy group.

Spokewoman Margo O’Hara says the change will make the group stronger by broadening its base. For example, two cyclists were recently killed by cars within months of each other at the same intersection in Chicago’s Logan Square neighbourhood. The alliance is working with locals to brainstorm ways to improve safety at that intersection for pedestrians and transit users as well as for cyclists. “By talking to residents who may not be cyclists, we’re opening the door to new partners and bigger successes,” she says.

The name change may also help the organization apply for more health-related grants from foundations and community organizations – funding that might not be available to a bikes-only group, O’Hara says.

Longtime bike activist Payton Chung applauds the change. “Bike-friendly communities are also pedestrian and transit friendly, with nearby destinations, lots of route choices, and calm streets,” he says. “So the new name advances the Bike Federation’s longtime goals while bringing new constituencies to the party.”