Bornhoft.org

Jan. 19, 2012 at 12:45pm with 76 notes View comments

I spent four wonderful years living in Chicago while I attended DePaul University. One of my most exciting experiences in Chicago was watching the city adopt bicycles as a main form of transportation. New bike routs, bike lanes, and paths allowed bicyclists to move around the city freely and safely. Unfortunately the CTA did not seem to take notice. Small stairways, poorly designed trains, and unforgiving commuters made bringing a bike on the train not worth the hassle.

Today, that seems to have changed…at least started to change. While reading about the CTA’s newly renovated Grand Avenue Station I caught this picture.

Now you make think I’m overly excited, but if you knew the number of times I had to go up and down those steps carrying my bike while making sure I didn’t hit someone in the head with a wheel, you would understand.

I do have a couple of gripes. First, it looks like this is supposed to be used by bikers going both down and up. Perhaps there is another one on the opposite side of the photo, but the opposite direction of bike symbols on the ramp leads me to believe this is the only one. My second gripe is about signage. How will pedestrians know this ramp is for bicyclists unless they have there head down and turned to the side? I would like to see a sign at top and bottom denoting that this area of the steps is for bicyclists first. Without it there is potential for bicyclists and pedestrians to clash.

All that said, this is a great development! Thanks CTA! Now can we get bike racks on trains?

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Some of you have been asking about how a bike rack would look on a train so I thought I would post an image.

The train driver would not have to wait for the bicyclist because the rack is inside the train although it is up to the bicyclist to be ready to exit the train. In Minneapolis, where they do have bike racks in trains, the bicyclist tends to remove the bike one stop early. The vertical style allows for a small footprint and by securing the bike to the wall, there is more protection for passengers.

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