Beyond Chicagoland

[This is the first post of a two-part series by guest contributor Kristen Maddox. Kristen recently spent a year in Denmark as a Fulbright fellow and worked with Copenhagenize Design Company. Now back in the US, she is actively looking for work in bicycle planning and advocacy. We'll post the second half this piece on Wednesday.]

A new analysis by Michael Andersen at Bike Portland helps illuminate how shifts in car ownership are playing out in different cities.

Sometimes transportation and food intersect in curious ways. The northwest Chicago suburbs of Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, and Elk Grove Village are home to the region’s largest Japanese expat community. I was bummed to find out that Mount Prospect’s Torishin, my favorite izakaya (Japanese pub-eatery) recently shut its doors. The tavern was a popular place for local salarymen to hang out after work over drinks and delectable bar snacks.

For years, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has been an enthusiastic supporter of walking, biking and transit initiatives. In 2001 he hiked from the Mississippi River to Lake Michigan to draw attention to the need for universal healthcare, and he later launched the Walk Across Illinois fitness challenge, encouraging residents to walk 190 miles within one year, an equivalent distance.

When people in Chicagoland think about taking a summer vacation with their family, the plans often involve an automobile. However, in an era of high gas prices, in a region blessed with a 500-mile commuter rail system, it makes a lot of sense to rethink the concept of the family getaway to include car-free excursions.

At a public meeting about the first state bike plan last night, staff from the Illinois Department of Transportation said the agency is trying to change its culture, and that starts with separating the bicycle component from its Long Range Transportation Plan into its own planning process. With about 70 participants in the crowd at an auditorium in the Thompson Center, IDOT and its consultant, Alta Planning + Design, explained how the bike plan will be developed, led two public input exercises, and fielded questions.

As the Illinois Department of Transportation launches the public input process for the state’s first-ever statewide bicycle transportation plan, the elephant in the room is IDOT’s prohibition of protected bike lanes on state jurisdiction roads in Chicago. Protected lanes have been proven to improve safety for all road users, based on several years worth of data in other American cities like New York, which has been installing them since 2007.

Next Tuesday, July 9, the Illinois Department of Transportation and its consultant, Alta Planning + Design, will host the first two public meetings to start crafting the first-ever state bike transportation plan. This is not a "bikes as recreation" plan.

Two weeks ago, transportation researcher Michael Sivak brought us the news that there are fewer cars per person in the U.S. now than there were a few years ago – and that the number isn’t expected to rise again.