Category: Chicago

Weekend open thread: Which bike issue concerns you most?

My main goal in writing for Grid Chicago is to get more people interested in improving conditions for sustainable transportation in Chicagoland. That first starts with education and awareness. I tell you what’s up. This post features several bicycling issues I’ve recently been bothered by. Which bike issue concerns you most?

Is it people driving in protected bike lanes, like these Chevy Malibu and BMW drivers on 18th Street this past week?

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Watch this video on Vimeo.

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Or something else? Continue reading Weekend open thread: Which bike issue concerns you most?

What keeps an El car from falling off the tracks on tight curves?

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1977 derailment at Wabash and Lake – photo by Mark Llanuza

[This piece also ran in Time Out Chicago magazine.]

Q: Since I’ve switched from the straight-shot Red Line to the winding Brown Line, where you often feel like you’re about to ride right off the rails (and right into a nearby condo building), I’ve been wondering: At what speed would El trains hitting sharp curves come off the tracks?

A: A CTA train’s extremely low center of gravity and speed limits allow it to safely navigate the El’s many curves, according to spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski. As a train goes around a bend, like the tight S-curve on the Brown and Purple Lines just north of the Merchandise Mart, the car may seem to sway at an impossible angle, but most of the weight is still directed straight down, Hosinski says. This overcomes centrifugal force and keeps the wheels on the rails. “Also, a train’s speed through each curve is limited by the automated train control system,” she says. “This system enforces a maximum train speed that’s much lower than the speed that could cause a train to leave the rails.”

Continue reading What keeps an El car from falling off the tracks on tight curves?

To ‘L’ and back: a performance piece celebrates the CTA

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Cast members from “EL Stories” – all photos courtesy of Waltzing Mechanics

This piece also ran in “Checkerboard City,” John’s sustainable transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.

Driving isolates you from the outside world, but walking, biking and especially public transit encourage interaction with strangers, which can lead to some unforgettable encounters. The performance piece “EL Stories,” based on real tales from CTA commuters recorded by Waltzing Mechanics theater company, capitalizes on this.

“The Chicago ‘L’ is a shared, communal space that hundreds of thousands of people come together and inhabit every day,” says cast member Eleni Pappageorge. “When you bring that many people from that many places into one space a lot can happen. Some of the smallest, most mundane events on the train can make beautiful stories, but you wouldn’t notice them with your iPod on.”

Continue reading To ‘L’ and back: a performance piece celebrates the CTA

Quickly: Mia Birk responds to allegations of “tainted” bike sharing process

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Mia Birk speaks to guests at the Active Transportation Alliance gala and fundraiser on October 13, 2011. Photo by Kelley Ryan. 

From BikePortland.org:

Alta Bicycle Share is a subsidiary of Alta Planning + Design, an engineering consultancy whose president, Mia Birk, is the former bike program manager for the City of Portland. Birk, who’s also a principal of Alta Bicycle Share, responded to Squire’s allegations over the weekend. She says there’s no substance behind Squire’s allegations whatsoever.

In a statement to BikePortland, Birk wrote that her company won the bid “fair and square”:

“Alta Bicycle Share, Inc. competed fair and square in a highly competitive process. We are honored to have been selected based on our qualifications and experience launching and operating bike share systems in Melbourne, Arlington VA, Washington, DC, and Boston. At this time, we are focused on contract negotiations and launch preparation to bring Chicago a world-class bike share system in support of the City’s goals.”

Read the full article or our coverage of bike sharing in Chicago.

Bike sharing selection process “tainted”, competitor alleges

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A resident tests a bicycle in Portland from the Nice Ride bike sharing system in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by BikePortland.

Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times reports today that the selection process to select a bike sharing manufacturer and operator (“vendor”) is “tainted”, according to Bike Chicago owner Josh Squire. You may be more familiar with the name Bike & Roll, which operates many bicycle rental facilities on the lakefront, as well as the Millennium Park Bike Station (McDonald’s Cycle Center) on behalf of the city.  Continue reading Bike sharing selection process “tainted”, competitor alleges

Shifting view of car ownership driving younger users to car sharing

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I-GO member Angel Collazo. Photo by Kimiteru Tsuruta

This post was contributed by Kimiteru Tsuruta, a grad student at Nortwestern’s Medill Journalism School. During his time in Tokyo, Tsurata was amazed by the efficiency and coverage of its public transit system. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Irvine, and now covers Chicago’s transportation news with the Medill News Service. This piece originally appeared on Medill Reports.

Practicality and economics may be the main reasons increasing numbers of people use car-sharing services, but there also seems to be an underlying shift in how young people perceive car ownership.

“Car-sharing members tend to have attitude,” said Joseph Schwieterman, professor of public service and director of the Chaddick Institute at DePaul University. “They see their lifestyle choices not only as a matter of just convenience, but as a rejection of the notion that a privately owned vehicle is important.” Continue reading Shifting view of car ownership driving younger users to car sharing