Each June, the Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago hosts the Bike Commuter Challenge.  It is a week-long series of events designed to engage and support  bike commuting in Chicago, This year's edition attracted  more than 4000 participants who tracked their bike commuting each day for a week, Overall, 84,062 miles were logged with one commuter riding an astounding 399 miles in his weekly commute! 

I recently met with Sean Blay, Events Manager at the Active Transportation Alliance (ATA)  to understand more about this event and the impact to bike commuting in Chicago. 

Imagine using the same card to ride a Metra train, rent a Divvy bike and hop on a CTA bus. Instead of worrying about managing multiple cards, navigating the options at the bike kiosk, or using the Ventra reader, you simply swipe your card and seamlessly move between transportation options as you need them. Achieving this kind of vision is one of the possibilities that results from integrating transit options. And that type of integration is the focus of the Shared Use Mobility Center (SUMC). 

Started last year, the organization's mission is to connect industry, government and community groups and accelerate the growth of shared mobility for all transit modes. I recently interviewed Sharon Feigon, Executive Director, to learn more about SUMC's impact on expanding mobility

It's already September and the days are getting shorter. Since the summer solstice, we have lost over 2 hours of daylight. In Chicago. You will soon be riding in the dark on part of your commute if that hasn't happened already. This is a good time to assess how well you are equipped to ride in the dark.