enforcement

Lots of people ride Divvies on downtown sidewalks, but are police only enforcing bike laws against African Americans?

The Chicago Critical Mass route ended by occupying the streets by the main police headquarters.

Cofounder Oboi Reed elaborates on Vision Zero rollout issues, and argues that if Black and Brown residents advocate for safer street designs, their aldermen will support them.

In the wake of a Tribune report on disproportionate bike ticketing in African-American communities, two local cycling advocates say they're determined to hold the police department accountable for ending its unfair enforcement practices.

Leave it to the Chicago Tribune editorial board to take an important expose on police targeting bike riders in black communities and use it as an excuse for yet another another call-to-arms for more ticketing of cyclists citywide.

[This article also ran in Checkerboard City, John's column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.]

Last week while pedaling downtown on Milwaukee, I came across Chicago Department of Transportation Bicycling Ambassadors and 14th District police officers doing safety outreach to people on bikes and people in cars. The ambassadors were handing flyers to motorists and cyclists reminding them not to use phones while driving and to obey traffic signals while biking. The police were flagging down adult cyclists who rode on the sidewalk or who ran red lights and giving them seemingly polite warnings that what they did was illegal.