Some groups and individuals have commented on the process, with most complaints of the following sort:

• Voters in each ward are not representative of the population residing in the ward
• The project creation process is oppressive or represents special interests
• The projects don’t address the needs of the community
• There was no way to vote against projects, only for them
• “I didn’t know about it”

As this process will hopefully occur again and in more wards around the City, it should be noted that the process is open to all. Community Representatives (those who essentially create the projects) are not pre-selected, screened, or otherwise restricted from participating. Planning or government knowledge are not necessary to participate: One only has to care about their neighborhood and make a time commitment of about 20-25 hours over 7 months.

Voting, too, is not restrictive. In fact, it is more open than voting in most US elections: 16 year olds as well as non-citizens can vote, as long as they reside in the ward. US citizens are not the only stakeholders in their neighborhoods, and they are given a vote. Residents are not restricted from voting in any other way.

While the majority of voters in the past have been homeowners at rates higher than those of the ward, it does not mean that outreach is being withheld from certain groups. Thinking about it, wouldn’t you be more concerned with your community if you owned property in it? This isn’t to say that renters do not have a stake in their community (I rent an apartment myself), but homeowners just might have lived in the community longer and may be more interested in local politics. These people in turn come out to vote in larger numbers.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

The outreach process could and should be improved in the future. The Community Representatives were largely given the responsibility of outreach, and handed out flyers at CTA stations. I did see a lot of outreach online, which is problematic for lower-income voters who may not have access to the Internet. Direct mailing is probably the best way to reach everyone in the ward, but is also expensive. The best thing that can be done is get the word out. So instead of creating websites to discredit the process and those involved, for example, create a website to get the word out instead. Here’s a good post about a particular group that seems to have trouble grasping this concept.

Finally, the project selection and voting process. If projects like “Walkable 46,” which included sidewalk repairs and pedestrian countdown timers, or the Leland Greenway, which will calm Leland Ave to make it safer for pedestrians and people on bikes, represent “special interests,” then I’m not sure what a non-special interest is. Everyone is a pedestrian at some point. Over 40% of people in Uptown do not own a car; even more rarely use theirs. These projects were created from the ground up by several people who know the community well and would like to improve it for everyone. When projects like painting lines to denote parking spaces were brought up, all members of the group discussed the pros and cons, the cost, and whether or not it was feasible or worthwhile. After many hours and meetings, a final project list was created. At least in the 46th ward, there was little input from Alderman Cappleman himself on what ended up on the final ballot. Each group wrote the title and description for each project.

The menu funds to be allocated can also be used only on projects like the one on each ballot. They cannot be used for keeping schools open, they cannot be used for multimillion bridge repairs, and they can’t be used to improve a private business.

The voting process is no more different than voting in any other election. I cannot vote against a presidential candidate, unless you consider not voting for him/her as a vote “against.” Each voter was given 6 votes; not every vote had to be used.

All told, this was a good process, and I am pleased with the results. As with all first runs, there will be kinks to work out in the future. With these projects, safer routes for pedestrians and people on bikes will appear, and everyone will benefit. The bottom line is that Participatory Budgeting has taken a previously undemocratic process and given the people of the community a say in how their tax dollars are spent. It would be foolish to return to the old way of the Alderman having the final and ultimate say in how residents’ funds are spent.

The post Statement on Participatory Budgeting appeared first on Transitized.

One of the most obvious shortcomings here is how pedestrians are treated in cities, especially the most dense, most walked neighborhoods. One of the best examples I can think of is right outside Union Station in Chicago.

Union Station at Adams and Riverside Plaza, Chicago. Credit: Shaun Jacobsen.

The photo of the scene above was taken around noon on a weekday. In the morning and the evening, it is much more crowded. Adams is a one-way westbound street with 3 lanes of traffic; there is no north-south street at this intersection, but there is a light for pedestrians to cross north or south on Riverside Plaza. I noticed that people seemed to wait a long time to cross here, so I timed it. Automobile traffic has 55 seconds of a green/yellow cycle, while pedestrians get only 25 seconds to cross*. What’s worse is that the high amount of inept taxi drivers and articulated buses means that the crosswalk is often blocked completely, giving pedestrians even less time to cross.

Just south of this intersection is another just like it, at Jackson and Riverside Plaza. There is noticeably less foot traffic here (likely because Riverside Plaza does not continue south), but the timing is even worse: pedestrians again have 25 seconds, but automobile traffic has 2 minutes and 20 seconds of green*.

I haven’t timed other intersections downtown, but most are pretty fair with their timing because there is pedestrian and auto traffic that has to cross 4 ways. But at intersections that are installed just for pedestrian crossings, there is clearly not enough priority given to pedestrians. You don’t need to do a scientific count to know that there are more pedestrians moving outside Union Station than auto traffic, and pedestrians should be given more time to cross.

Another instance of pedestrians not being given equal footing (ha) is with “push-to-walk” intersections, which I’ve already written about. Here’s an example at Ashland Blvd:

Crossing Leland Ave at Ashland Blvd in Chicago. Credit: Shaun Jacobsen.

Unless a pedestrian presses the button before the light changes, the “Walk” signal will not display even when the light is green for cars, and you can either take your chances and hope the light doesn’t change mid-crossing, or just wait at least two minutes for another light. Leland is also an eastbound one-way street, so you can’t even see the light if you’re walking west. The bottom line is that pedestrians should never, ever, under any circumstance, have to “ask” to cross the street.

This sort of design also hurts people riding bikes, as they have to ride up onto the sidewalk to press the button, or wait for the signal to change on its own.

What’s your gripe with your status as a pedestrian? Do you have any intersections that are worse than the ones I posted above? Leave your responses in the comments.

*Timings done at 5 PM on a Wednesday workday in April.

The post Pedestrian Priority appeared first on Transitized.

However, as is usually the case with anything involving bikes, there is the loud NIMBY minority, with disdain coming from both residents of “historic” neighborhoods (something Streetsblog NYC has been good at discussing), as well as street food vendors in Manhattan (as if there aren’t enough streets in Manhattan). There’s a New York Times piece about it.

So many have already elegantly debunked the illogic about taking some parking space for bike share, but it is worth pointing out that most people on residential streets do not pay for parking (or pay a small sum for the privilege of “permit parking”, a sum which does not even begin to cover the cost of the valuable space). But this is not even worth explaining to a driver who likes their free parking, because, taxes.

Hubway bike share in Boston on Boyslon St. That’s 17 public bikes in the space of about 4 cars. Credit: Cityphile.

We will hear more of the same thing in Chicago when Divvy stations start appearing. Some have already complained about the price. Yes, $22 million is a chunk of money to spend on some bikes. Or is it? We’re already spending $420 million on a downtown freeway interchange that will benefit only those who use it, or billions on a new freeway out in the suburbs. For some perspective, the cost of those two projects could fund Divvy for over 125 years.

In New York, there is opposition to having a bank’s name plastered all over the bikes and stations. This is something I can’t argue with; I do not like corporate sponsorship on “public” property. Citi is paying for the system, but there is opposition to the corporate branding. Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C. does not have corporate sponsorship plastered all over the bikes. Neither does Vélib’ in Paris; however, French advertiser JCDecaux has rights to some billboards in Paris in exchange for paying for the system. That’s a little sweeter of a deal – with tens of thousands of bikes and tons of users, there is no advertising on any of the bikes or stations, but it’s still privately funded.

While Divvy doesn’t have any corporate sponsorship now, Mayor Emanuel has said he hopes to in the future. I hope not. I personally would not like to ride around on a “BMO Harris Bike” or similar.

Finally, the typical “cyclists don’t follow rules” complaint comes up. A video like this or a 15-minute walk in most urban neighborhoods reveals that many drivers don’t either:

Most drivers “stop” at stop signs at the same speed as people on bikes do.

All petty disagreements aside, what I feel is the biggest issue with bike share is how safe riders will feel when using it. I consider myself a “confident” rider in that I’m not afraid to ride around on streets in the city, but I still get shaken up when riding to work in the morning and home at night. Just this Friday I was honked at by taxis and drivers, and witnessed several drivers yelling out their windows at other people riding their bikes downtown. One woman told a pair of cyclists riding side-by-side (on a 3-lane, one-way street) to “move over!” repeatedly while honking her horn.

This isn’t enough room for drivers? Clark near Illinois. Credit: Google.

This kind of verbal and physical harassment (it’s “physical” when a driver uses their multi-ton car to threaten you) is not something that will make riders feel safer.

We need to seriously ramp up our bike lane construction. The only protected bike lanes in Chicago that will be near the Divvy stations this summer are going to be around downtown, and the only protected bike facilities aren’t much to call home about. More are scheduled to come downtown, but we don’t have a lot of options elsewhere. With the Participatory Budgeting process almost done in my ward, fellow Community Representatives in our streets & cycling group quickly found that the City and State makes it very difficult to put safe bike facilities on most streets. Where they can be put, they’re fragmented. For example, a new protected bike lane on Broadway from Leland to Montrose will be built in the coming months. This is only a distance of about 3 blocks! Many residents expressed interest in cycle facilities that would extend south on Broadway into Lakeview, but the street south of Montrose is too narrow (roughly 36′). This is too narrow for even sharrows. CDOT said it would be possible to build better bike facilities if parking were removed.

Yeah, right.

Broadway near Belle Plaine Ave is “too narrow” for sharrows, even though every street should technically have sharrows. Credit: Google.

It’s too bad to see that so many people want better bike facilities, but our fragmented, shortsighted government won’t build them in a meaningful way. The same city that wants to  increase it’s number of cyclists is powerless to change the driving school curriculum or test, how hard it is to obtain a license, or to meaningfully change the behavior of drivers.

Safety for people on bikes comes in numbers. Hopefully, Divvy and other bike-share systems will get more people interested in riding a bike for practical urban transportation, and this will lead to a change in how we prioritize roadway funding and space allocation. Time will tell, and it’s usually kind: When’s the last time you heard someone complain about the Dearborn protected bike lane?

The post What’s really the issue with bike share? appeared first on Transitized.

Voters can allocate 6 votes to the projects; weighted voting (voting more than once for a single project) is not permitted. All 6 votes do not have to be used. Votes do not have to add up to $1,000,000 (the usual amount to be allocated).

Here is voting information for each of the 4 wards participating this year:

5th Ward – Ald. Leslie Hairston

Tuesday, April 30 – Thursday, May 2
5th Ward Service Office
2325 E. 71st St.
10am -4pm

Saturday, May 4, 2013
Gary Comer College Prep
7131 S. South Chicago Ave.
10am -2pm

45th Ward – Ald. John Arena

Monday, April 29 – Friday, May 3
9am – 5pm
45th Ward Service Office
4754 N. Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630

Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5\
10am – 2pm
45th Ward Service Office
4754 N. Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60630

46th Ward – Ald. James Cappleman

Saturday, April 27
9am – 12pm
Monday, April 29 – Friday, May 3
9am – 5pm
46th Ward Service Office
4544 N Broadway,
Chicago, IL 60640

Saturday, May 4
9am – 2pm
Uplift Community High School
900 W. Wilson Ave
Chicago, IL 60640

49th Ward – Ald. Joe Moore

Monday, April 29 – Friday, May 3
9am – 5pm
49th Ward Service Office
7356 N Greenview Ave
Chicago, IL 60626

Saturday, May 4
9am – 3pm
Chicago Math and Science Academy
7212 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60626

Voting

In all 4 wards, the voting process is simple. Residents of the ward 16 and older must bring a form of ID that proves ward residency, such as:

• Document from a government agency (driving license, state ID, military ID card, etc)
• Voter registration card
• Current lease
• Paycheck or paycheck stub
• Bank statement
• Permanent resident (Green) card
• Tax forms
• And more

Please note that you do not have to be a US citizen to vote! Any resident 16 and older can vote.

Yesterday I volunteered at an Active Transportation Alliance Bike Pit Stop on Clark at Montrose, right near the 46th ward boundary. It didn’t seem like a ton of people knew what Participatory Budgeting was. It’s important that we get the word out about this so the people who it affects can voice their support for safety improvements!

If you know anyone who lives in these wards or would like to give out some information, share this post and flyers listed here. You can also share the half-sheet flyer I made specifically for the 46th ward:

Larger-resolution files for printing can be found here.

Do you live in one of the wards that will have a choice of how $1,000,000 in menu funds will be used this year? Let me know what you think in the comments.

The post Chicago Residents: Participatory Budgeting Vote Starts Soon! appeared first on Transitized.

Project expo at Uplift Community High School.

Turnout was good for a Saturday morning. There will be another expo at Preston Bradley Center (941 W Lawrence) this Monday, April 8, from 6–8 PM. Please join us! The expo starts with an overview of the process, followed by explanations of the projects. After the short presentation, community representatives such as myself and several others are available to discuss the specifics of our proposals.

Arline Welty of Bike Uptown looks at the project posters.

Below, I will post the 5 project expo posters for the Streets & Cycling Committee (click on each one for a higher-quality PDF). There are 3 other committees in the 46th Ward – Beautification, Safety, and Arts. We all have excellent proposals for making the entire Ward a better place to be. Big thanks to Eric Hanss for putting together the posters in a uniform, easy-to-understand manner.

Bike Infrastructure Improvements: This project is composed of several different projects that all deal with bike infrastructure. This is the subcommittee I was on. Currently, a protected bike lane is already planned on Broadway between Leland and Montrose. This section of Broadway is currently two traffic lanes in each direction with parking on both sides. There is not often much traffic, so removing driving lanes should not jam the roadway. We have two proposals to extend this protected lane north to the Ward boundary at Ainslie, and another proposal to extend bike infrastructure south on Broadway to Wrigleyville.

Wilson Ave also has existing marked shared lanes (sharrows) but many of them are worn out or have been paved over. Our proposal is to re-paint these markings. We also proposed building bike lanes along Winthrop and Kenmore, which connect to great bike lanes on calmer residential streets in Edgewater, and would bring these lanes south into the 46th Ward.

Finally, two of the proposals are combined with two other projects proposed by members of the Streets & Cycling committee (see below).

For the bike infrastructure proposals, we put up pieces of paper and gave expo visitors stickers to informally vote on their top 3 proposals (someone called this “dot-mocracy”). This is not the same as voting on the proposals, which will take place later this month. We want to see which proposals will end up on the final ballot (an infrastructure primary, if you will).

Leland Greenway: Covered in a recent Streetsblog Chicago post, this project focuses on Leland Avenue in the Ward, a residential street that continues west into the 47th Ward and also goes near to the lake. The proposal is to create chicanes along the route to slow traffic, since much of Leland does not have any traffic calming (just easily ignored stop signs). Curb bumpouts with stormwater retention as well as bike signage on the street would make Leland into a great route for the Ward and also for 47th Ward residents, since Alderman Pawar has expressed interest in creating a neighborhood greenway along Leland that could meet the 46th Ward at Clark St. This would create a very long neighborhood greenway from Western Avenue to the lake, and a great alternative to using busy Montrose or Lawrence to move east-west across the area. Western Avenue is also just a few blocks from the North Shore Channel Trail.

Clarendon Corridor: This project is a series of improvements to Clarendon that make the street safer for all users. As the project poster states, many parts of the street are damaged and dangerous. Many street intersections do not have crosswalks where they belong. A big improvement would be the intersection of Clarendon and Broadway. There is currently a channelized right turn and the intersection is too large. The proposal is to reconfigure the intersection, eliminate the channelized right turn, and reduce crossing distance.

View Larger Map

Walkable 46th: A series of improvements to walking all across the Ward. Like with the Clarendon corridor, there are too many places where crosswalks are non-existent, like along Lawrence Ave (where the #81 bus route runs). Some of these intersections could be signalized. Some bus shelters are not ADA compliant, surprisingly, one adjacent to a hospital. And some crosswalks need to be repainted, especially along Wilson. The Chicago Crash Browser was used to find and display problem locations in the Ward.

Project expo display and model for the SherMon Plaza, also covered by Streetsblog. I unfortunately don’t have copies of the posters to post here.

Ready to Vote?

Voting will take place at the Ward office (4544 N Broadway; Wilson Red line stop, #36 & 78 bus routes) from April 27th to May 5th during regular office hours. There will also be a voting day on a weekend at Uplift Community High School from 10-2 (stay tuned for confirmed date).

For all of the Participatory Budgeting votes in Chicago, you do not need to be a US citizen to vote. You must only prove that you are 16 years old and live in the Ward (state-issued ID, energy bill, lease with name on it, etc).

And, if you have not stopped by a project expo yet, please do so this Monday at Preston Bradley Center from 6–8 PM! Let’s make the 46th Ward a great place to be!

The post First Participatory Budgeting Expo in Chicago’s 46th Ward appeared first on Transitized.

“1 familiar smile, a shared passion.”

“9 chapters down, 43 pages to go; A shared passion.”

“Demanding and exceeding expectations: 2 values the RATP shares with high-level athletes.”

Other than the setting of the images and the inclusion of line/route numbers in the writing, the ads don’t have much to do with public transportation. Some allude to cultural references (Mona Lisa has the same color tie as RATP employees).They’re just fun and emphasize the RATP as a Parisian asset.

*RATP translates “Aimer la Ville” as “Care for the City”, but this isn’t my preferred translation.

The post Paris Métro Art and Culture appeared first on Transitized.

It’s up to you, come choose how our ward spends $1 million in menu money for our neighborhood! Active transportation advocates will be happy to know there are quite a few great traffic calming, bike infrastructure, and pedestrian-oriented proposals, as well as other public safety and beautification proposals created by residents of the ward.

Mark your calendars for the project expos:

Saturday, April 6 10 AM – 12PM
Uplift High School (900 W Wilson Ave)
Transit: Red (Wilson), #78, #81, #136, #146, or #148 bus

Monday, April 8 6 – 8 PM
Preston Bradley Center (941 W Lawrence Ave)
Transit: Red (Lawrence), #81, #136, #148, or #151 bus

Voting will take place April 27 – May 5.

If you’re a resident of the ward (or just interested in seeing what we’re proposing), please stop by! It’s important that we get out the alternative (walk, bike, and transportation) transportation vote in order to make much-needed safety and comfort improvements in the 46th ward (and hopefully, all across Chicago).

If you feel inclined, please distribute the PDF below and spread the word!

Click for printable PDF.

Decide how your tax $ are spent in the 46th ward (@jamescappleman)! Come to project expos on April 6 & 8. More info: transitized.com/2013/03/19/chi…

— Transitized (@transitized) March 20, 2013

The post Chicago: Vote on Participatory Budgeting Projects in Your Ward! appeared first on Transitized.

From the American Disability Association, 2007 (via Tumblr).

The post For Some, it’s Mt. Everest appeared first on Transitized.

At this point, we really have no idea what the stations will look like, but we can look to Capital Bikeshare in DC and Nice Ride in Minneapolis to get an idea, since Alta played a role in both systems’ development.

Capital Bikeshare station. Credit: Bike Arlington.

We also don’t know what the “key” will look like, but here’s another idea:

Capital Bikeshare key used to unlock bicycles. Credit: Mr. T in DC

Ideally, the “key” used to unlock a bike at a station should not be a unique, distinct key, but instead should be integrated with the rest of Chicago’s transportation payment methods.

It’s a bit of a stretch to believe this would have happened initially, especially since not every transportation option in Chicago currently has the same payment system. But this is exactly how it should be. Everyone in the Chicago region should be able to use one card to pay for all public transportation in the region: Metra, Pace, CTA, and, soon, bike share.

I’m not in the position to suggest who exactly should oversee such a payment system or ensure that payment makes its way to the correct transportation entity, but the point is that it should exist in the future. So many American cities have disconnected transportation payment mechanisms. New York in particular is pretty awful at this: On a recent trip visiting a friend in Jersey City, a trip to Manhattan requires taking the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail ($2.25 per ride), then a PATH train ($2.25), and, depending on the destination, a ride on the Subway ($2.25). All require different farecards. Indeed, New York and New Jersey are different states, but we should expect more cooperation among transportation networks in the country’s largest metropolitan region. This is not unique, either; many cities across the country require different fare payments on their different transportation systems.

We’ll go across the Atlantic to—you guessed it—Paris, where transportation in the region (Ile-de-France) is spread across different brands, service levels, and government entities but is unified by one payment mechanism, including the bike share system, Vélib. The Syndicat des transports d’Île-de-France (STIF), or “Transport Organization Authority”, oversees the transportation in the region (similar to RTA in Chicagoland). You can get a ride from the suburbs on a regional Transilien or RER train to central Paris, where you can transfer to the Metro, and finally grab a bike from a Vélib station, all using just one card: The Navigo pass.

Wireless Vélib card used to unlock bike at staion.

You can, of course, still buy paper tickets (which are still unified across modes) for the Metro, RER, or Transilien, or get a Vélib card if you don’t use public transportation often. Paying the fare doesn’t get one a ride on Vélib, though: a separate annual subscription is still required, it’s just loaded onto the same card. In the future, you’ll likely be able to use your phone to do the same thing.

It should be noted that Paris is perhaps unique in integrating all modes, for even London’s Cycle Hire has not integrated its payment system with the Oyster card. If you’re aware of other cities that do integrate their bike share systems with their public transportation payment systems, let me know in the comments.

If CDOT were to talk with CTA and find a way to integrate the future bike share system with the forthcoming Ventra card, it could reduce a significant barrier to using the bike share system. If we assume the Chicago system will be similar to Minneapolis and DC, it means having to register online to receive a key or pay-per-day at a kiosk. By offering an option to pay an extra few dollars per month or year on the unlimited Ventra card in order to use bike share, a new connection could be made between CTA and a user’s final destination, and increase use of the bike share system. When the day comes where Metra integrates Ventra, it could create even more options. Could we see the day where denser suburbs, like Evanston and Oak Park, have their own bike share systems that also integrate with Ventra?

Aside from the payment mechanism, how the bikes are released is also important – if it is to be like Nice Ride, where the key is inserted into a slot to release the bike, it means there is no immediate possibility to implement wireless cards at the stations to release a bike. If wireless cards were implemented instead, we could see people unlocking bikes using smartphones, RFID-enabled credit cards, Ventra, or the bike share’s own card. It could even go so far as to wireless hotel keys being linked to the system – 24-hour memberships paid by hotels to help their guests get around, or single-use cards being issued for certain events.

Without a doubt, Alta has looked around the world at the best practices for bike share and has created some amazing systems. The fragmented organization of our city governments has also ensured that many of our transportation systems are inefficient. Smart transportation networks bridge the gap between these inefficiencies and create systems that are easy to navigate. A major part of this is ensuring that people can use the different systems with a common payment system. Hopefully, we will see more of this in the future.

EDIT: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Alta manages Nice Ride in Minneapolis. Alta merely provided assistance in station location and site design guidelines.

The post Unified Fare Payment and Chicago Bike Share appeared first on Transitized.

Jeremy’s been in Chicago for a few weeks now and has been blogging about our city over at his blog, Critical Transit. Check it out!

The post Listen to me on Critical Transit appeared first on Transitized.