Chapter 5
Education

Education is a key component to achieving the Bike 2015 Plan’s goals to increase the number of trips by bicycle and improve the safety of the bicycling environment. Many people think that bicycling in Chicago is dangerous. This concern keeps people from bicycling more, or at all. A key way to address this concern is through education, particularly through the six objectives identified in this chapter.

Educating motorists and bicyclists to share the road (Objective 1) will establish safer, more inviting streets for bicycling. Key strategies include expanding the Bicycling Ambassadors program to educate more bicyclists and motorists about responsible road use and training drivers of commercial vehicles to share the road with bicyclists.

Targeting particular audiences (Objective 2) is an effective way to provide people with the specific information they are interested in or need. Existing programs, particularly Safe Routes to School and the Junior Bicycling Ambassadors, should be expanded so that more people are reached.

Partnering with other agencies and organizations (Objective 3) will help deliver bicycle information more effectively and at a lower cost. For example, bicycle education should be integrated into school curricula and park programs, so that hundreds of thousands of Chicago youth learn to bicycle more frequently and safely. Partnering with media outlets and the private sector will further increase the reach of educational campaigns.

Training city staff and consultants to implement the Bike 2015 Plan (Objective 4) involves staging workshops to ensure that new projects meet Chicago’s high standards for bicycle planning and engineering design.

Producing and distributing bicycle education material (Objective 5) will provide bicyclists the information needed to bicycle safely and comfortably. A key strategy is to expand the Bicycle Program’s Web site, www.ChicagoBikes.org, to provide comprehensive information to potential and existing bicyclists.

Educating bicyclists how to prevent bicycle theft (Objective 6) is important, especially since Chicago has one of the highest rates for bicycle theft in the United States.1 Providing bicyclists with information and resources to combat theft will reduce the number of thefts and the fear of theft which keeps many people from bicycling.