Chicagoland Bike & Walk Photo Contest

Active Trans wants your photos of the best and worst places to bike and walk around Chicagoland. Show us where your community does well and where it needs more work to improve biking and walking!

We’ll be using your photos in our publications. Your photos will help showcase the highlights (and "lowlights") of biking and walking opportunities around Chicagoland.

We’re offering enticing cash and gift prizes! The person that uploads the most correctly tagged photos will win $250 and a complimentary registration to the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive on Sunday, May 29, 2011.

Anyone who uploads a correctly tagged photo will be entered into a raffle to win a $100 REI gift certificate and a complimentary registration to the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive.

Active Trans staff will also select best photo winners in the following categories:

• City of Chicago
• Northwest Indiana
• North suburban Chicagoland
• West suburban Chicagoland
• South suburban Chicagoland

The winner in each category will receive complimentary registration to the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive (5/29/11), Four Star Bike Tour (8/28/11) and a one-year membership to Active Transportation Alliance.

Contest ends April 30, 2011. Winners will be notified through Flickr by May 6, 2011 and will be featured on the blog.

You may submit as many photos as you like, but contestants are limited to one prize.

How to Enter:

1. Upload pictures from the following list to the Active Transportation Alliance photo stream http://www.flickr.com/groups/bike_walk_photo_contest/

2. Tag them with your name, exact location of the photo including nearest intersection and city, and items from our Tag List (below)

Tips:

Take a copy of the Tag List, yourself, your camera, your bike or walking shoes, and a friend out in your neighborhood. Photograph streets, intersections, parks, offices, shopping centers, and anywhere else you walk or bike, or wish you could walk or bike.

Upload and tag your best shots to be entered into the contest.

Be sure to tag the photos with a description of what is in the photo and where it was taken. Only photos with tags for what is in the photo and where it was taken are eligible for prizes.

Check out this example of a tagged photo.

Tag List

Places to walk

• Sidewalk
  • Residential neighborhood
  • Shopping center
  • Office park
  • Suburban downtown
  • School
  • Community center/civic buildings/park
  • Rural area
• Crosswalk
• Median
• Mid-block crossing/pedestrian island
• Curb ramp

Places to bike

• Bike Lane
• Shared Bike Lane
• Paved Shoulder
• Trail
• Bike-Bus Lane
• Side path

Bicycle and Pedestrian Amenities

• Bike parking
  • On a street
  • In an apartment building
  • In a shopping area
  • In an office building
  • Unique bike racks
  • Covered bike parking
  • Bike parking at train station
  • Bike parking at bus stop
  • At a school
• Streetscape
  • Lighting
  • Benches
  • Trash Receptacles
  • Landscaping

Transit

• Bus shelter
•  
• Bus stop
• El station
• Metra station
• Railroad crossing

Signs

• Directional sign
• Bike route sign
• School zone sign
• Must stop for pedestrians sign
• Speed feedback sign
• Other signs

Traffic Signals and Intersections

• Intersection
  • without crosswalk
  • with crosswalk
  • with stop sign
  • with traffic light
  • without signs or signals
  • of two major streets
  • of a major and a minor street
  • of two local streets
  • with a crossing guard
• Countdown timer
• Mid-block traffic signal
• Push button to activate crosswalk
• Other traffic signals
• Roundabout

Events

• Group bike ride
• Other bike events