Help Us Help Everyone!
Some trips are strictly by bike, some by bike/public transportation. And for those who see their commute as too long or too difficult, we continue to encourage everyone to think before they get in their car for that 1, 2 or 3 mile trip. This is where Footprints makes its biggest impact.
From one of our Footprints coaches, Mary Lynn Wilson:
Steve Buchtel asked me how long it takes to plan a route for our Footprints participants. I thought about it; it takes a long time! For most of the people we sign up, using a bike for transportation is a novel experience. Using the recommended streets on the Chicagoland bike maps and having the fledgling go at it would bring their noble experiment to a quick halt. So, we coaches poke through maps, Google and Bing only to be faced with a myriad of cul-de-sacs, canals, railroad tracks and streets where a speed limit is merely a suggestion. Persevere we do and manage to come up with a decent route with minimal fast moving cars, sometimes connecting the rider with a train or bus. We sweeten the pot by offering to make the ride with them. Never give someone a route you wouldn’t ride yourself.
But, I have finally been stumped. I met a gentleman at Matteson Fest who worked for the United States Postal Service at O’Hare. He wanted to use his bike to get from the facility on the southeast end of the airport to the Blue Line. Continue …