Speaking of Wasting Money
Look who woke up and smelled the coffee:
Despite spending millions of dollars on hundreds of miles of bikeways, American cities are seeing a big drop in the number of people who pedal their way to work. That's according to the latest American Community Survey (a smaller, more detailed version of the U.S. Census), which found declining bike ridership across most American cities last year.
The drop was most pronounced in bike-friendly Seattle, home of the $12-million-a-mile bike lane. In 2015, 4 percent of Seattleites (16,300 people) biked to work. That rate fell to 3.5 percent (14,600 people) in 2016 and 2.8 percent (12,000 people) last year.
This decrease comes as the city of Seattle is throwing a lot of money at building out its biking network. In 2015, Emerald City voters approved the Move Seattle levy, which raised some $94 million to add 110 miles of bike lanes, greenways, and associated infrastructure. Costs have since increased to a point where Seattle residents may get only about half the miles they were promised.
And that's just Seattle.
Here in Chicago, the bike lanes cost approximately $1 million per mile and you can only use them reliably about seven months of the year. Not only that, they cost commuters a full lane of traffic, drastically increasing automobile travel times (contributing to pollution increases), end up destroying delivery routes/times (contributing to economic costs), increased police/fire/ambulance response times and lord only knows how many parking spots.
But paving and concrete people got their connected contracts, and they paid off politicians along the way. And the city unions (Streets, Laborers, etc) went along with it all because, at some point in the not-to-distant future, they'll be paid to take it all out. Job security!
Keep paying those rising property taxes.
Labels: dumb ideas
posted by SCC at 12:05 AM
53 Comments:
Racist cameras ..
Chicago has enough all ready. Stop with the bike paths already.
Our Beloved Leaders, in Chicago and elsewhere, dream of a day when they've finally built enough bike trails and lanes that we unwashed peasants will all slap our collective foreheads, go "D'oh!" at once, and dump our nasty old automobiles in favor of clean, "green" bicycles. They spend time in Europe and see people bicycling there, and want the same thing here.
People are leaving cities in general. Plus telework .That's why bike ridership is down.
CPS is wasting money too. Check out
THIS VIDEO where 2 dumpsters full of books were discovered. Similar things happened with missing tablets and computers. The most fucked up thing about all this is no one will be held liable and no one will be punished.
The expansion of bicycle lanes in my area is obnoxious. You maybe see a handful of people using them throughout the day. Meanwhile traffic is totally backed up.
OT - just finished that multi-part BIA elearning. Definitely a morale booster being thoroughly informed as to the many many ways in which I can be disciplined! Makes me want to run out there and lay it all on the line for the good citizens of this uber-liberal city!
The bicycle lobby is certainly strong in Chicago, they support the Dems.There are parking lots that move faster than the Kennedy. And if you take the arterial streets like Elston, Milwaukee, Grand etc they have been adulterated with the bicycle lanes, curbing & posts. You use to get two lanes in each direction at various times. Now it’s bottle necked traffic. A million dollars per mile for the menaces on bikes. We could take that money and send them on their journeys in cabs or Ubers for what it is costing the taxpayers. Another annoyance is the placing of stop signs on through arterial streets which slows the traffic even more. It use to be easy to get around by car in Chicago. Every year all this becomes more noticeable, we are getting like NYC where the only way to get anywhere is by the electric sewer. If you are pushing a squad every day you may not notice it but once you leave you say to yourself, I can’t believe I drove in all that aggravating traffic.
Getting squished like a bug in big city traffic was always a concern. But now the threat of getting shot, beaten & robbed on a bike has increased. And god forbid they take their bike which they keep in their bedroom in their apartment!
Shitcago has become one big side street with all these empty bike lanes. What a waste of $$. What happens when there is an emergency and firetrucks, ambulances and other emergency vehichles can not get through a major street such as Belmont from say California to Kedzie because it's one lane and when an emergency vehicle tries to get through there is no where for regular cars to pull over to the side because those raised curbs to "protect" the bicyclists are too high and theres no where to go? Well thought out B.S. from the lame ass alderman and mayor[s] who only look to take care of their cronies with contracts... again, compromising safety over $$$ ... Those bike lanes from back when Daley wanted the Olympics look like they havent been used at all with all the garbage piled along those very lanes...smh
I see where you guys caught a bike thief the other day. This can only help increasing bike participation. In the minds of bike riders, next to driving a car this is the most serious infraction or crime that can occur. Never mind dead women sitting for days in an alley....
Here is an idea, make it that all bikes have to be registered for a small fee. Bike owners must carry insurance, the way they drive they need to be held accountable for any damage to people and other vehicles. People who own cars pay so much for registration and gas tax but get to use less street.
OT-Ch. 7 finally showing offenders!
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-crime-police-release-images-suspects-wanted-north-downtown-knife-attack-michigan-avenue/15372802/
What about the millions going to these so called violence interrupters? Who are they reporting too? Where is the transparency with them with progress? Do they have to hand in paperwork to someone in the Mayors office? This is a complete handout program to worthless organizations that contribute nothing to helping.
How many bike lanes does 007 have?
They look like most were never used.
The bicycle nerds are leaving Chicago.. Moving out of the city.
well, you see,, that woman lying in the alley was in in one of those so-called over policed areas,,,,, so the police have orders to not be racist and drive in those area trying to prevent crime because then the libs and dems will call them racist
carry insurance for a bicycle ?? hahaha that be raciss,,,,,, look how many illegals they let drive cars now with no insurance and no license because the libs and dems just love them
An interesting idea. Except it is hard enough to get people to insure their cars.
And what about electric bikes? Have seen them with lights keeping up with traffic. At what point do they become motorcycles, requiring plates, insurance and stickers?
And, how are these cyclists contributing to the cost of maintaining these bike lane? They don't pay a gas tax, or have to get a city sticker every year, or a plate sticker every year. When all the cars are gone who will pay for the up keep of the streets?
"Cyclists" have emerged as an obnoxious sub culture IMHO. They wear loud clothing that is too tight for them, and they think that they own the streets. They ride around on bicycles worth thousands of dollars, go through red lights like they weren't even there and hate the police until their bicycle is stolen from them. They have their own political lobby as well and they tend to side with the libtards.
The best you can do is sort of join them. Buy a "throttled" E-bike and make use of those bike lanes to your advantage. Some of those higher watt E-bikes get up to 50-60 mph and we never pull them over. Speeding cameras, and license plate readers are oblivious to them. Depending where you live and work, you can likely save some considerable time on your commute. You can park them anywhere and even on the sidewalk. They are almost invisible to most people in general. They can blend in on the bike paths, and weave in and out if traffic effortlessly. You can split lanes and go through stop signs,, and red lights at will.
Of you can just bitch about them....
It's not like CPS students can read anyways...
I don’t live in Chicago but I do live in an area where the city spent millions to build bike paths along major roads. The bike paths are completely separate from the road. Where do you think the bikers ride? In the road! I think they should be ticketed for doing this as they are a huge hazard for the traffic and are endangering themselves, especially along roads where the speed limit is 55.
Plus the curb bump-outs so you cannot turn right on red. In Houghton,MI, these bump-outs all have flower pots on them so the plow drivers see under the winter snows. And, the sidewalk is extended to the new bump out. See so many people walking now (NOT!)
Toll booths for bicycles! Of course that'll only be needed UNTIL bike routes are paid off (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
That's a great idea however both you and I know - it will never happen
In San Francisco they have put in bike lanes that have blocked access to businesses and have actually put most of them out of business.
The bike community (lobbyist's) will never stand for it...
bike lanes are racist because the white man did not give them enough free bikes to use in the bike lane,,,,,,, dat be raciss
The city replaced the curbs in my neighborhood last year. They started cracking within a week! Thank you connected Ozinga! They had the usual diversity hire females standing around with a broom making $40 and hour. Also, overheard the city workers complaining that they sent too many trucks one day, so they couldn't work overtime on Saturday.
Agree 100%. Partner and I push a beat car on the late side. Is it the ideal start time? Not at all. But as far as activity goes it’s been case reports, inventories and mandatory domestic arrests. Last traffic stop was conducted in 2019. ISR in 2017 and have accrued zero CR’s since. Slow motion, longevity and blinders on is key to survival on CPD.
It is hilarious that these idiots listen to the Euros. I lived in Germany, it rains a lot. The traffic is twice as screwed up as the US. Biking to work is a “sometimes” thing at best.
Who needs a bike lane when you work remotely from home? Many offices are as dark as a closet.
They are annoying as fuck thinking that the road is theirs and theirs alone. T
all bicycles that use bike lanes should be licensed by the City of Chicago.Cameras should be used to enforce all traffic violations and equipment violations
As long as the right pockets are getting filled with cash there is no waste of money
Want people to bike and walk to work? Make the city safe. But, no amount of policing will make a city safe, if its criminals are allowed to roam freely and commit violence at will. If the shitbirds at the DA's office won't take a bite out of crime, hopefully a gang war will. Hell, I encourage gang wars, at this point.
Bike lanes constructed to replace vehicle traffic lanes - about as stupid as it gets. Marvel at the fools riding their bikes in Chicago weather, whether rain, sleet, or snow, heatwave or below-zero freeze, wind storm or mosquito cloud.
This is not street scaping or city engineering. Seems more like activism to me!
Richie dumb, dumb Daley couldn’t chew gum, and ride a fucking bike cycle at the same god dam time too fucking stupid ! This corrupt mother fucker spent millions of taxpayer dollars putting this useless bull shit in ! The Daley crime family made a fortune in hick backs of this corruption ! Keep voting demorat you brain dead mother fuckers ! Reap what the fuck you morons have sown !
Out here in Indiana farm country we have lots of bike paths. There located on the limestone shoulder of a 2 lane county road.
The bike lanes were part of Rahm's Master Plan of what they called: "Road Diet". The ultimate goal was to discourage individual use of gas operated vehicles. The Moron behind it left before Rahm left, and they all failed to project the age of many Chicago residents and the explosion in the use of electric scooters. Let's face reality; unless your still wearing a face mask, and Hillary button, anyone over 50 is not going to risk their lives on a bicycle. And younger people are renting the scooters, which are totally out of control. On the Northside of the City, people are riding them on the sidewalk at 15 to 20 mph, and there is no traffic enforcement.
Another waste of money time to cancel Netflix https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/netflix-saw-highest-day-cancellations-year-after-co-founders-7m-donation-harris-campaign-report
Reason #5 I got the fuck out of Chicago, and Illinois for that matter. Every fucking day was a traffic jam because of those stupid bike lanes. I now blast through rural America unimpeded at about 60 mph via country roads. ‘Murica!
The exact same can be said about CPD. LOL.
Good luck with that🙄
Hey, how about them flower boxes in the middle of north Ashland Avenue?
They have bicycles lights on Randolph near traffic court. Red, yellow and green bicycle shaped lights. Now would you write them a mover if they run one of those lights? Asking for a traffic court judge…
you need a PhD to figure out the bike lane rules outside of A3. What a joke this isn't China.
I like flower boxes.
That still leaves 10 days of nice weather in a year for those bike lanes to pay for themselves.
I remember driving a beat car along the bike path along LSD and a "cyclist" that passed me complained that the bike path was for bikes only! That was only one out of thousands, so I ignored him...most of those bike nerds seem pretty miserable anyways.
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