Through a multi-city initiative called “ThinkBike Workshops”, the Royal Dutch Embassy in Washington, DC has invited Dutch experts of Fietsberaad International to visit Canadian and US cities to discuss possibilities for increased bicycle use. Fietsberaad is the Dutch centre of expertise on bicycle policy disseminating its knowledge and expertise abroad. The ThinkBike workshops bring together Dutch bike experts, local politicians, planners, advocates, engineers and business people in each city to plan and discuss how it can become more bike-friendly by applying aspects of the Dutch approach. Teams consisting of the Dutch experts and a mix of local experts convene for two days during which they will survey the cities by bike and discuss in workshop format how streets, intersections and whole neighborhoods can be improved for optimal bicycle use. Topics of discussion at the workshops will also include bike safety, bike commuting, biking to school, bike parking, bikes and public transport, law enforcement, etc. The workshops consist of a kick-off session, open to the general public, followed by the workshops behind closed doors and conclude with a closing session, also open to the public, where the recommendations will be presented by the teams.
Chicago was, together with Toronto, one of the first cities to host the bike workshops – they took place on September 23 and 24, 2010.
In close cooperation with the City of Chicago and Chicago Active Transport, two teams (orange and blue) were formed that together with the Dutch experts addressed the following design assignments:
• Finding a solution for combining bicycle facilities with the Bus Rapid Transit that will be operating on Randolph Street
• Making the Lincoln Park/Clark neighbourhood more bicycle friendly
• A long term strategy on promoting cycling as well as better marketing and communication on cycling.
During the workshops an exchange of views took place on bicycle policy applied in the various practical situations Chicago with possible integration of Dutch ideas and best practices in the Chicago situation. Furthermore the philosophy and principles behind the Dutch approach to promote cycling and the possibilities to implement these elements in Chicago were discussed. A small group from both teams also looked into a long term strategy for Chicago incorporating Dutch methods of marketing and communication.
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Important conclusions were:
The three corner stones of the Dutch philosophy towards bicycling can be easily implemented in Chicago Transport Planning
- Cycling is joy
- Perceived safety is paramount; if people do not feel safe, they will not cycle
- A significant amount of cycling can only be achieved with a high quality of infrastructure
Other general conclusions were:
- Bicycle planning has to be an integral part of any urban transport plan
- Bicycle planning always leads to improvement of the quality of the public realm and the liveability of neighbourhoods
- Identification is important for promoting cycling. Everybody cycles, just normal people like me and you
- Individualized bicycle planning (Smart Travel Planning) is very helpful
- Put extra effort in the bike-transit combination (esp. for suburbs)
- Start young (bike education)
- Transfer space for cars to bikes on stretches of road, which is no sacrifice for the car flow
- Make provisions on intersections, like continued coloured bike lanes, levelled, bike lanes, bike boxes and bicycle traffic lights
The workshop was a truly wonderful experience for all participants and the audience of the public meetings. It provides Chicago with new ideas concepts philosophy, designs and strategies for years to come.
A special thanks go to Adolpho Hernandez and all at Chicago Active Transport who was instrumental in making the workshops successful.
This report includes:
1. Outline and description of the workshops
2. Dutch approach to promote cycling
3. Results/observations/recommendations Chicago workshops
4. Appendix A: The design assignment of the teams
5. Appendix B: Composition of the teams
6. Appendix C: The program
7. Appendix D: Media coverage
8. Appendix E: Final presentations