"Jesus"

The Stated Reason and the Real Reason

On not wearing a helmet in San Francisco.

Stated reason:

More and more Bay Area bicyclists are riding without bike helmets, some because they think it's actually safer.

Real reason:

But in the end, riding without a helmet makes one look "tougher," sleeker, and cooler.

Cost of the CTA

The CTA is once again in a funding crisis. Ever wonder where the money goes?

The Sun Times has a great graphic.

Parking Meter Pushback!

A new grassroots campaign to fight back against the parking meter privatization fiasco:

Help send a clear message to Mayor Daley that we SAY ...

1. Roll Back & Stop Parking Meter Rate Hikes!

By raising the parking meter fees, the Mayor & City Council are taking money out of our pockets and giving it to Morgan Stanley. Let the people decide parking meter rates, not the banks.

2. End the Privatization of the Parking Meters!
Take Back the Meters! Street and Parks parking is a city service on public property, not a for-profit private business! Mayor Daley criminally handed over the city's parking meters to Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley for 75 years. The Mayor's nephew, William Daley Jr., is a Morgan Stanley executive. Morgan Stanley has raised our parking rates 400% in most places.

3. No New Parking Meters or Pay Boxes!
LAZ, the company Morgan Stanley hired to run the city's parking meters, and the Chicago Park District, are planning for thousands of new meters and pay boxes—and even more rate increases.

If you need to catch up on the issue, check the Chicago Reader's three part series.

Mayor Daley

From a post comparing politicians to NBA players:

And then of course there's Richard Daley, who's probably less of a point guard and more of an Anthony Mason-Charles Oakely-Shaq intimidator.

The Olympics are his baby. To what lengths will he go to make sure we get them?

More on Those Potholes

The absurdly ridiculous potholes are bad enough to deal with.  Even worse, if they are on a street without marked bicycle lanes, we are SOL in holding the city accountable.

From Lawyer Jim:

In such an instance [injury resulting from hitting a pothole] there is no recourse against a city or county unless the pothole is located in a marked bicycle lane or along a marked bicycle route. This is a result of the Tort Immunity Act, as interpreted through the infamous case of Boub v. Wayne Township.
...
The end result is that cities, counties and governmental entities cannot be sued by bicyclists for defects on roadways that are not designated for use by bicycles through marked bicycle routes or bike lanes, such as the pothole on Chicago Avenue. There are some efforts in the works to change the effects of this decision, however, any real change is probably years away at the least. In the meantime cyclists must be cautious of defects in the roadways. Go around potholes.

Read the whole thing.  We are not "intended" users of the road?  Isn't that nice.

Why We Ride

Chicago Critical Massers weigh in: