Interview: Chicago Bike Grid, Now!
The vision: build pedestrian and bike safety on 10% of all streets - 450 miles - connected in a grid throughout Chicago. Mill City Hall is in the Windy City this week, and we interviewed Charna Albert and Chris Buie-Gentry from the Chicago Bike Grid, Now! steering committee. Turns out they have built some real momentum, with endorsements from mayoral candidates and legislation moving at the state level. What can we learn this efforts to create a truly systemic solution for active transportation?
Big thanks to Charna and Chris for making time to have this conversation with us! They were very generous with their time and extremely open to sharing lessons and experience.
This was our first experiment in mobile recording, and it went about half right :) Luckily the half that we got right was our guests' audio; please excuse some of the echo-y sound from Jesse and Robin.
Recorded 5/11/26.
Alert
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Chicago Bike Grid, Now!
Learn more about the Chicago Bike Grid vision and advocacy:
What is the transformational power of a systemic approach?
We know that it takes truly safe and comfortable infrastructure to make biking and walking viable as a regular transportation option for most people. It takes infrastructure that prioritizes the safety and comfort of pedestrians, bicyclists, and other folks engaging in active transportation.
But in the United States, we almost always encounter such infrastructure in isolated and disconnected parts. We encounter a really nice bike trail or a protected bike lane, but it might not connect to any other similar routes. The lack of a system itself is a barrier.
We know from examples around the globe that, when infastructure is both safe AND systemic, active transportation becomes a popular option. Whether for children's safety and health, for the enrichment of communal and commercial life, for making housing more affordable, or for fighting global warming: the benefits of active transportation are enormous. And the costs of car-dependency are huge.
- Bogotá, Colombia was an early pioneer (PDF)
- Amsterdam, the Netherlands is an often cited example, but not as many know that this is the result of a transformation of a very car-centric system
- Paris, France very recently made huge strides towards a safe grid under mayor Anne Hidalgo