Category: Transportation

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.

The bike parking award winners are in

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The School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s classroom building at Columbus Drive and Jackson Boulevard provides people with a tool stand and air pump. 

Samantha, the author of Ding Ding Let’s Ride, and I have finished our deliberations on the winners of the 2012 Grid Chicago/Ding Ding Let’s Ride Best Bike Parking Awards.

We had 5 categories (3 bests, 2 for “needs improvement”). Jewel, the supermarket, won in three categories for three locations, winning both “needs improvement” categories. There were 20 nominations; Samantha and I submitted about half of them.

Best Civic or Institutional

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) won for its sheltered bike racks at the Columbus and Jackson building, near the classroom entrance and for providing a Dero Fixit stand that includes tools and an air pump. I was especially excited about this nomination because the nominee submitted a message that said it was sheltered and had the repair stand. The competition was 30 N LaSalle, a Loop office building that houses several City departments. Continue reading The bike parking award winners are in

Grid Shots: Sidewalk

The sidewalk. Are there any other names for this? I’m thinking of the Clorox bleach commercial that I’ve seen on Hulu where the announcer speaks at least 10 names for the toilet (commode, john, etc.). It’s where we all find ourselves. And find each other.

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Three people wait for the bus on the sidewalk in front of Skewerz at 1560 N Damen Ave. Photo by Sam Dickey. Continue reading Grid Shots: Sidewalk

Tales from #bikeCHI: volume 2

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The Lakefront Trail on an emptier day. Photo by Katherine of Chicago. 

#bikeCHI is the hashtag to use on Twitter when you’re talking about cycling in Chicago. It’s a pretty broad topic.

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I think you probably know what Zach is talking about. At the most recent Bloomingdale Trail meeting, it was revealed that the Lakefront Trail can be a very busy place: during one count period, there were over 2,300 people per hour in each direction. That’s a higher “ADT” than many streets in Chicago*. Continue reading Tales from #bikeCHI: volume 2

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