Although in the past the United States hasn’t had a particularly good biking culture, with the vast majority of Americans preferring cars as a primary mode of transportation, this have started to change recently.
Although in the past the United States hasn’t had a particularly good biking culture, with the vast majority of Americans preferring cars as a primary mode of transportation, this have started to change recently. This is in part due to the fact that a lot of people have become increasingly aware of the negative effects that motor vehicles have on the environment, but also because of the economic downturn that started a couple of years ago. Today, there are numerous cities across the country that have a great biking culture, such as Portland, Philadelphia, with exceptionally well-designed networks of bicycle lanes and paths, and a growing population that realizes the benefits of using bikes, instead of motor vehicles.
Chicago is the latest city that aims to become more bicycle-friendly, and is putting a lot of efforts into making bicycles a more viable alternative to cars. City officials have announced that they plan to install another 20 miles of biking lanes over the next couple of months, extending the existing network of 207 miles.
Chicago’s New Bike Lanes
The Chicago Department of Transportation said that 5 miles of those 20 miles of new biking lanes will be barrier-protected, which will be installed at the North and the West Side. In addition to these 20 miles, which are supposed to be ready for use by the end of the summer, the city plans to install another 30 miles of biking lanes before year-end, 15 miles of which will be buffer-protected. By early 2015, Chicago hopes to be able to install 100 miles of bike lanes. Currently, there are 50 miles of protected bike lanes in the city.
Rahm Emmanuel, Chicago’s Mayor, has said on several occasions that he wishes to make his city the “bike-friendliest city in the country”, and these investments in new biking lanes show that he intends to achieve this goal pretty soon. “Improving our bicycling facilities is critical to creating the quality of life in Chicago that attracts businesses and families to the city”, he said in a statement.
Other Biking Efforts in Chicago
On top of improving the city’s biking lane network, there are other initiatives in Chicago that are helping promote the use of bicycles. For instance, there is the Divvy bike sharing program, which was launched by Mayor Emmanuel in June, 2013, that started with 750 bikes at 75 locations across the city. The city hopes to expand the program and provide about 4,000 bikes at 440 stations by mid-2014. For a $75 fee, you get annual membership, which allows you to hire a bike for an unlimited number of trips that can last up to 30 minutes, and if you want to extend your trip to 60 minutes, you will be charged an extra $1.50. The creators of this program were inspired by a similar initiative that has been running for a couple of years in Paris. According to the mayor’s office, about 35,000 people use Chicago’s bike-sharing program each month.
The city of Chicago hopes that these efforts will help make bicycling a mainstream transportation option, which would surely reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality in the long run.
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