With summer approaching and warm weather finally here, I'm thrilled to see more people walking and riding bikes on my daily commute to work.

We can no doubt expect the number of cyclists to continue to climb given the success of Chicago's bike week and Active Tran's Bike Commuter Challenge. And don't forget that Chicago's newest bike lane was just unveiled on the city's busiest bikeway, Milwaukee Ave., and there's Divvy, Chicago's bike sharing program, which is bringing 3,000 "Chicago blue" sharable bikes to Chicago by the end of the summer.

For the increasing number of Chicagoans on bike and foot, I want to take a moment to highlight some of the significant new benefits and protections that they will enjoy under Chicago law thanks to Mayor Emanuel's 2013 Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Ordinance, which the Chicago City Council Council adopted last week.

Active Trans provided much input on the ordinance as it was being drafted. Although earlier news coverage of it was all over the map, all-told, the ordinance includes a number of very significant provisions that will improve the way people riding bikes, people walking and people driving cars share the road.

It will ensure that people biking and walking have the same rights in Chicago as they do under state law and help reduce the nearly 4,500 reported bike and pedestrian injury-crashes every year in our city. Here are some of the improvements the ordinance will bring when it becomes law on July 6:

• Combatting doorings: Perhaps most importantly, the ordinance is part of a two-pronged strategy to combat "doorings"--instances when car drivers or passangers open car doors into the path of people biking--which cause fully one-fifth of Chicago's bicycle crashes. The ordinance doubles of the fine for someone who causes a dooring crash to $1,000 and complements a new Chicago initiative to place "Look!" warning stickers on taxi windows--to alert passengers to check for people biking before opening their car doors.

• “Taking the lane" when necessary: People biking frequently encounter conditions that make it unsafe for them to ride outside of car traffic on the right side of the road. Potholes or ice on the road's right edge, roads too narrow for a bike and car to travel safely side by side, and preparing to turn left all are cases when a person biking may need to "take the lane." In these cases, the safest thing for someone on a bike to do is to signal to drivers and occupy the full traffic lane. The ordinance clarifies that people biking may "take the lane" when necessary for safety.

• Riding two abreast in a single traffic lane: People and families riding bikes together for fun sometimes want to ride side by side to talk. As long as they're not slowing traffic, people biking are no longer required to ride single file.

• Passing on the right: The ordinance clarifies that people on bikes may pass slower moving cars and other bicycles on the right side of the road. This common practice is accepted and expected by people driving and cycling alike. But ambiguities in both state and Chicago laws have meant that people biking weren't always assured of this right. The ordinance makes cyclists' right to pass on the right crystal clear in Chicago law. An Active Trans-backed bill, which the state legislature adopted in May, is doing the same thing statewide.

• Riding on the sidewalk to access bike facilities: People biking are now allowed to ride on the sidewalk for short distances to access the nearest roadway, bike path, intersection or bike share station.

• Signaling turns and stops with either hand: The ordinance provides that people biking may signal turns, slowing, and stopping with either their right or left hand.

• People walking have the right of way: People driving cars must yield to people walking at any crosswalk, not just marked crosswalks. Most intersections have "crosswalks" whether marked on the pavement or not. They exist anywhere a sidewalk leads up to the roadway--imagine a virtual extension of the sidewalk across the road.

• Include pedestrians with disabilities: Pedestrians with disabilities are assured the same rights under the traffic code as other pedestrians.

During a sun-filled morning rush hour, city officials, advocates and media gathered along the newly enhanced Milwaukee Ave. bike lane to officially open the latest addition to the city’s growing network of next-generation bike infrastructure.

As dozens of bike commuters whizzed by on the new bike lane, Chicago Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein, 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett and Active Transportation Alliance Executive Director Ron Burke (pictured at right, left to right) told reporters how the new bike lane will make this important corridor safer and better for everyone using the street.

Extending from Kinzie St. to Elston Ave. along Milwaukee Ave., the new improvements include several types of safety features that will bring more order to Chicago’s busiest street for cycling.

The project combines traditional bike lanes with stretches of buffered bike lanes, which use street markings to create more space between cars and people riding bikes, and barrier-protected bike lanes, which physically separate motorized traffic from people riding bikes by using bollards and/or parked cars (see images).

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this milestone in our quest to make Chicago the best city for biking in the country. Here are two ways you can help mark this special occasion:

1. Say thank you: Send a thank you note to city leaders expressing your gratitude for the new enhanced bike lane on Milwaukee Ave.
    
2. Raise a glass: Join us Tuesday June 18 at 6:30 p.m. at 694 Wine & Spirits (694 N. Milwaukee Ave.) for an informal celebratory toast of the new protected bike lane. You can RSVP on Facebook here, but feel free just to show up!

With your help, we can keep the momentum rolling and achieve our goal of building 100 miles of protected bike lanes by 2015.

You can read more about the Milwaukee Ave. project in Active Trans’ press statement.

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Bike Week in Chicago got off to a high-profile start Monday with a front page Chicago Tribune story that includes photos and graphics about the first 6 months of the 1.15-mile, two-way Dearborn protected bike lane through the Loop.

John Hilkevitch writes that 81 percent of cyclists are obeying the dedicated bike traffic lights compared to 31 percent compliance with regular traffic lights before the lane was added, according to Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT). The new configuration on Dearborn includes left turn arrows for cars, where 91 percent of car drivers have complied.

“It’s important to have infrastructure that speaks to people who are biking," said Active Trans’ own Lee Crandell in the article. "Otherwise, they feel the roadway was not designed for them.”

As an effort to improve the Dearborn bike lane, CDOT will add green paint and signage to help drivers and pedestrians be more aware of people biking in the lane, especially the “counter-flow” south-bound cyclists.

Pedestrians are learning not to wander into the bike lane while waiting to cross the street, but that remains an issue.

Active Trans is excited to see more bike traffic and better compliance on Dearborn, and we look forward to the installation of a bike traffic light on the new Milwaukee Ave. bike lanes between Elston and Kinzie.

Speaking of stopping at red lights, photographer Steven E. Gross is documenting how we do that. 

With more people biking every day and the city investing more in safer bike lanes, it’s important for people who bike to demonstrate good behavior on our streets and to follow the rules of the road.

We know there are already a lot of people biking who show excellent behavior out there, and we’ve teamed up with photographer Steven E. Gross to take a look at how Chicagoans are waiting at red lights on Dearborn Street.

We love the new bike traffic signals on Dearborn. Literally lit up with a bicycle symbol, they’re like a welcome sign for biking in the Loop, recognizing and legitimizing bike traffic.

They’re also an important safety feature to reduce conflicts been people biking and driving. (We can’t wait to see the new bike signal installed at Milwaukee and Elston soon to improve safety at that intersection!) As a piece of infrastructure, bike traffic signals are significant in that they unmistakably speak directly to people biking.

We’ve noticed that designing a street to acknowledge the presence of people using the roadway is a good way to increase compliance with the rules of the road.

We enjoy seeing how everyone has a different way of waiting for red lights. Here's a snapshot. How do you wait for red lights?

Some people rest one foot on the pedal and one foot on the ground. You can do this while staying on your saddle or getting off your saddle...

Waiting at a red light can be an opportunity to strike up a conversation with a stranger...

Some people wait with their hands in their pockets...

 And some with their hands on the handlebars...

You can wait with a foot on the curb... 

Or both feet on the ground...

You can even do it in dress pants and boots with heels and a shopping bag...  

Tell us how you wait for red lights! Share a comment below or hit us up on social media: @activetrans on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/activetrans.

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