Once again, with the seventh annual Chicago Bike Week, we are being treated to the spectacle of a city government pretending to be encouraging bicycle commuting, along with bike enthusiasts who are pretending that city govern-ment is serious about this.
Thus we see a big deal being made over the announcement that a trifling 15 miles of new bike lanes will be spread over a half-dozen city streets and more effort made to maintain the few established bike lanes that have fallen into neglect. We see a Chicagoland Bicycle Federation spokesman explaining in a recent Skyline article that the absence of locker rooms and showers for bike commuters in warm weather is no problem for those willing to take baths out of the nearest restroom sink!
Anyone taking his or her chances on Chicago streets knows that this remains a fiercely bicyclist-unfriendly town. It is not only the near-total absence of real bike lanes (and the total absence of bike-only street routes) that demonstrates this harsh reality. The Daley administration’s accelerated dismantling of CTA services, meshing with its real estate and “community redevelopment” strategies, shows a city government that is committed to re-creating the suburbs within the city, thus forcing even greater dependence on the automobile as the main mode of transportation.
Mass bicycle commuting won’t be possible until at least three conditions are met:
– A dense network of hundreds of miles of bike lanes and bike-only streets.
– Secure indoor parking for bikes, not just occasional bike loops, in order to protect bikes from thieves who know how to break U-locks. (At this point city government refuses to provide secure bike parking even for its own employees.)
– Public and private locker rooms and showers for regular bike commuters, which could be encouraged through a mix of tax incentives and zoning policies.
Until this happens, the annual bike-to-work week will remain what it is–a symbolic exercise in civic hypocrisy.
