Category: Beyond Chicago

Grid Shots: Shiny and new

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Post updated April 30, 2012, at 16:01 to add more photos of the new CTA station and new commentary. 

In this edition of Grid Shots, the suburbs of Skokie and Evanston are getting a bit of attention. Transit infrastructure is being built in more places than Chicago. Post updated to feature photos from opening day at Oakton-Skokie Yellow Line station. The Oakton-Skokie Yellow Line station opens on Monday, April 30, 2012. The Chicago Transit Authority will have another station opening in May, at Morgan (at Lake Street) Green and Pink Lines station. First four photos were taken by Jeff Zoline on April 30 and prior.  Continue reading Grid Shots: Shiny and new

Fisher sets new CTA record; ‘L’ race this Saturday at Linden centennial

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A CTA racer’s summit: Fisher (wearing a t-shirt based on the honorary station sign the CTA sent him), minutes after setting the new record, meets up with Bielaski, Greenfield and Resner to toast his triumph.

Adham Fisher has done it again. In March 2011 the globetrotting Leicester, England, native set the world record for visiting all 143 CTA stations by train, only to have the title stripped from him by Chicago residents Danny Resner and yours truly last February 3. On April 6 Chicagoans Kevin Olsta and Scott Presslak beat our time, but were bested five days later by locals Rob Bielaski and Ben Downey, who brought the winning time down to 9:08:56.

Continue reading Fisher sets new CTA record; ‘L’ race this Saturday at Linden centennial

Cool Tucson bike stuff I’d love to see in Chicago: bike boulevards and more

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Traffic diverter on University Avenue bikeway at Stone Avenue. Motorists must turn right from University Avenue onto Stone Avenue. This setup is also known as TOUCAN. Find more information and photos here.

Earlier this month my buddy Jonathan and I spent a week visiting our friend Lauren in Tucson, Arizona, and I was a little surprised by just how bicycle-friendly a town it is. This college town of 520,000 people (roughly one million metro) was recently rated the 9th best city for biking by Bicycling magazine, one notch above Chicago, so I knew it was a good place to pedal. But this city in the Sonoran desert, surrounded by saguaro cactus-covered mountains has more going for it than just cloudless skies and inspiring nearby destinations for road and mountain bike excursions. Central Tucson has a blossoming bike culture and some excellent infrastructure, including a great network of bicycle boulevards, which our city would do well to emulate.

Continue reading Cool Tucson bike stuff I’d love to see in Chicago: bike boulevards and more

Bike and proud: Red Bike and Green promotes cycling to African Americans

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Last Saturday’s kickoff ride – photo by Daris Jasper

[This piece appeared in print in Checkerboard City, John’s weekly transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.]

All Chicagoans should have a chance to reap the benefits of urban biking: cheap, convenient transportation, improved physical and mental health, and good times with friends and family. The proliferation of nonprofit bicycle shops and youth education programs, along with the rising popularity of fixies among inner-city teens, is starting to broaden the demographics of cycling here. But the local bike scene still doesn’t reflect our city’s ethnic and economic diversity. Eboni Senai Hawkins, 34, wants to change that. She recently launched the Chicago chapter of Red Bike and Green, a nationwide group that promotes bicycling in the black community.

Continue reading Bike and proud: Red Bike and Green promotes cycling to African Americans

Grid Shots: Our deteriorating infrastructure

The theme of this post is especially salient given that Congress cannot agree on a new transportation bill (instead they renewed the existing program one more time). Then last Friday I get an email from the Natural Resources Defense Council, giving me an update on dilapidated transportation in the state (2,200 structurally deficient bridges, transit systems that need repairs and upgrades).

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Division Street bridge over Goose Island. The bridge will be replaced. Photo by Seth Anderson.  Continue reading Grid Shots: Our deteriorating infrastructure

Grid Bits: Pace increases bus frequency on Stevenson and other transit news

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The Morgan Street Green/Pink Line station will be open in May, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. This photo was taken April 2, 2012, by Jeff Zoline, a frequent photo contributor.

There are 8 transit stories in this post (1 for Pace, 2 for Metra, 4 for CTA, and one story about how transit users save money because they’re not driving to work). Hat tips to CTA Tattler and Riders for Better Transit for keeping up with transit news in Chicagoland.

1. Pace yesterday began putting more buses on routes 755 and 855, both of which can drive on the shoulders of I-55/Stevenson Expressway during rush hour periods when traffic is moving slower than 35 MPH. They’re doing this because of increased demand for a route that’s seen its reliability improved and travel time decreased. There’s no word yet on the status of running buses on the shoulder of I-90/Jane Addams Memorial Tollway.

2. People who take transit to work instead of driving save $1,006 per month because of the cost of gas, insurance, parking, and other expenses. This is actually just a monthly calculation the American Public Transport Association releases. See the savings in the top 20 cities on the APTA’s website (via Chicago Sun-Times). Continue reading Grid Bits: Pace increases bus frequency on Stevenson and other transit news