Go Bronzeville

Researchers interviewed bike-share users in Bronzeville, as well as NYC and Philly, to identify barriers to bike-share use and strategies to broaden user demographics.

Black lives on bikes matter, including those who came together this past Monday to ride and celebrate Juneteenth Day.

Steven and I had a great time hanging out with Streetsblog Chicago readers and Go Bronzeville members last night at our reader meetup at Baderbrau brewery on the Near South Side. Big thanks to Ronnie Matthew Harris, who leads the Go Bronzeville's work promoting transportation options in the neighborhood, for co-hosting the event with us.

Next wednesday Go Bronzeville, a campaign to help Bronzeville residents take advantage of the many transportation choices in our city, is co-hosting our monthly reader meetup. This will likely be the start of a series of hangout sessions for Streetsblog Chicago readers and members of transportation advocacy groups and organizations in various parts of town.

Next month Go Bronzeville, a campaign to help Bronzeville residents take advantage of the many transportation choices in our city, is co-hosting our monthly reader meetup. This will likely be the start of a series of hangout sessions for Streetsblog Chicago readers and members of transportation advocacy groups and organizations in various parts of town.

Last month I reported on the Chicago Park District’s plans to expand a parking lot at the southwest corner of 31st and Lake Shore Drive, a short walk from 31st Street Beach and Harbor. The proposal would enlarge the lot, currently 60,000 square feet of asphalt, by 85,000 feet -- that’s about 1.5 football fields worth of existing green space that would be replaced by blacktop.

About a month ago, the Better Bike Share Partnership announced a $75,000 grant to the city of Chicago to launch the “Divvy for Everyone” campaign, a strategy to increase bike-share access and ridership among low-income residents. At the time, Chicago Department of Transportation officials declined to discuss the details of the program, but BBSP’s grant program manager provided info about the plan from CDOT’s grant proposal, and I shared it with Streetsblog readers.

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

Divvy bike-share continues to expand, Assistant Transportation Commissioner Sean Wiedel said at the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Council on Wednesday, and should reach 300 stations by the end of September. As of today there are 222 stations. Wiedel reported that over 7,700 annual members and numerous 24-hour pass users have made almost 325,000 trips and pedaled almost 950,000 miles since June 28.