Chicago’s e-scooter pilot program, which is set to run through mid October, is one of this summer’s hottest transportation stories. Ten operators were authorized to operate up to 250 e-scooters apiece west of Halsted Street and the Kennedy Expressway. Nationally, the buzz for this new mobility option has been going for some time now, and the transport mode certainly has its fans and detractors. But, now that e-scooters can finally be found zipping around our city, the Chaddick Institute wanted to check in on the first two months.
By agreement, the e-scooter companies had to make their data streams public, so, we picked a day (July 24, to be exact) and analyzed “A Day in the Life of Chicago’s E-Scooter Pilot Program” – the title of the latest Chaddick Institute report. Here’s a bit of what we discovered…
When the conversation isn’t charged up with stories of e-scooters in trees or bodies of water, a major point of focus is the potential “first mile/last mile” mobility benefits that this new mode could bring (especially for transportation buffs like us). Using a sophisticated time of day analysis, our expert, Scott Smith, found strong evidence that Chicagoans are in fact commuting via e-scooter, with the morning rush busier than the evening rush. Many are likely using scooters to reach transit stops.
One finding isn’t up for debate – Chicagoans like to scooter! We measured that there were over 2,500 unique trips over our 12-hour study period. Another interesting aspect of the research is that e-scooters are being used in that scenario where it’s just a bit too far to walk and just short enough that waiting for the CTA also doesn’t make much sense. We found that the average trip was about two miles, based on reasonable assumptions regarding how long they sit idle before moving again.
Finally, the pilot included provisions for two priority areas where access to transit and household incomes tend to be lower in the western half of the zone; in these zones, operators are required to keep half of their scooters in the two zones. Are the e-scooter providers complying? Yes. While the percentage of scooters in the priority zones drops during the day to about 48%, it peaked at 52.8% around 8:38am on July 24. In short, coverage in the priority areas is relatively good, but there appears to be more work to be done.
With two months left in the e-scooter pilot, the Chaddick team will continue to monitor the newest transportation mode to hit our streets. What do you think – e-scooters…friend or foe? Post your thoughts or experience below, we’d love to hear what you think!
The spectacular rise of Lyft, Uber and other “ridesourcing” companies is changing how people get from place to place in large cities like Chicago. With a few clicks on your smartphone, and for a pre-determined price, you can arrange a ride with minimal walking and only a few minutes of waiting.
Many observers are understandably concerned about how ridesourcing is affecting public transportation. In this post, I’ll share some of my personal experiences and encourage readers to post comments about how your transportation behaviors might be changing in this new era of mobility options. I hope this serves as a useful demonstration about the complexity of this issue.
Using a TNC is as easy as a few smartphone clicks and often reduces wait times and walk distances for travelers.
Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) – as Lyft, Uber and other similar companies are called – can be either substitutes for, or compliments to, public transit, depending on the situation. Travelers can, for example, use TNCs instead of buses and trains, or they can use them to achieve transit-oriented, “mixed-mode” lifestyles, which likely include bikesharing, carsharing, and/or ridesourcing. In the latter case, particularly when people avoid car ownership, the existence of TNCs often encourages people to use transit more.
With this in mind, I’ll share three brief anecdotes about how ridesourcing is changing my travel:
Case #1: Not unlike many other Metra users, I often face “schedule anxiety” about catching a late-night Metra train. After teaching an evening class on DePaul’s downtown campus, for example, I know that missing my train – perhaps to help a student – requires me to wait a full hour for the next one. That means I don’t arrive to my house in Flossmoor until 11:30 p.m. For years, I found myself driving to campus at least once a week to avoid this painful scenario.
“Schedule anxiety” on Metra can be alleviated with the complementary use of TNCs.
But this is no more. Now, if I miss the Metra after class, I’ll catch a CTA Red Line train to the end of the line (95th Street) and summon an UberPool to get home. Problem solved for an extra $20. I now take Metra more often and rarely drive downtown on nights I’m teaching a class.
Case #2: When I need to make a “trip chain”, perhaps involving stopping at the DePaul campus, followed by, say, a visit to Navy Pier or Northeastern Illinois University’s campus, I used to find the compulsion to drive overwhelming, even though each stop is accessible on transit. However, with ridersourcing, I am now more likely to give transit a try, and if I fall behind in my schedule, I’ll spend a few extra dollars for a TNC. For these types of trips, too, I actually use transit more.
Case #3: When I need to make quick trips between campus and nearby downtown locations, however, TNCs are now replacing some of my transit trips – especially those that would involve a good bit of walking. Now, perhaps a third of the time, I’ll use TNCs; when another person is with me, I’ll turn to Uber or Lyft even more frequently. For the convenience of door-to-door service, the cost of around $5 each way is nearly impossible to pass up.
These examples show, in my case, that ridesourcing has been both a substitute for, and complement to, public transit, depending on the situation. I use Metra more and the CTA slightly less on downtown trips, but more on longer trips. Overall, I’m using transit slightly more than I did before TNCs.
I suspect that your story may be much different. Leave a comment to let us know how your transit usage has changed – or not – with the rise of ridesourcing! Also, be sure to check out our 2016 study, Have App Will Travel, comparing travel times, cost differences, and other factors that influence travelers’ decisions to take UberPool versus the CTA.
By C. Scott Smith, Assistant Director and Riley O’Neil
Chicago’s reputation as a “bike-friendly” city seems to grow stronger by the day, but many people still have only a vague understanding of why this reputation is so well-deserved. While some point to the city’s Bloomingdale Trail (or The 606) and Divvy bike-sharing program as successful examples, most have not experienced the breadth of innovations familiar to avid cyclists, transportation planners and engineers who are continually studying how to improve active transportation networks in the city.
The Chaddick Institute fashioned an hour-long cycle ride covering a seven-mile route through downtown Chicago that provides rich insights into the city’s remarkable evolution and transformation in bicycle infrastructure. Riding this loop illustrates why Bicycle Magazine awarded Chicago “Best Bike City” in 2016 and draws attention to major shifts in transportation planning that are reshaping how we get around. Click the numbers on the map–which also correspond to the numbers referenced in the blog–to get additional information for each point of interest.
SETTING THE SCENE
Start your tour at the Divvy bike-share station at Adams & Wabash (1) and head down Jackson Blvd toward the Lakefront Trail (2), which is properly regarded as “first generation” modern bicycle infrastructure. Dedicated in 1963, the more than a half-century old trail is akin to a bicycle highway, hugging Lake Michigan’s shoreline and buffering riders from the nearby highway congestion (3). The Navy Pier flyover bridge (4) promises to enhance movement along this famously congested trail by allowing pedestrians and cyclists uninterrupted travel over its entire 18.5-mile span.
The potential for cycling along Chicago’s waterways is evident as you head east through the Riverwalk gateway (5) along the river’s main stem. Although the newer (2016) landscaping and street furniture along this segment (6) of the Chicago River are enticing for pedestrians, the right angled turns, narrow pathways and infrequent exit/entrance ramps make for a less desirable cycling experience. Now, zig-zag up the “riverbank” toward Wacker Drive.
Our group heading north on Dearborn St at the Randolph intersection. (Photo credit: Ahmad Feizi & Riley O’Neil)
Back on street left, a compelling picture of contemporary urban cycling emerges in the form of the new barrier protected bike lane (or cycle track) along Randolph Street (7). Finished in 2016, the Randolph Street redesign—complete with bicycle traffic signals (8)—is the most recent among similar protected paths constructed through the heart of the city, including those on Clinton (2015), Washington (2015) and Dearborn (2011).
The culmination of Chicago’s active transportation infrastructure is asserted in the Dutch-inspired protected intersection at the corner of Washington and Franklin (9). Developed as part of Chicago’s Loop Link project (10), the intersection features mode-specific colored pavement (green for bicycle, and red for bus) as well as concrete islands and curbs that shield both pedestrians and cyclists from turning vehicles. This urban bikeway design—derived from guidelines promoted by NACTO—reduces conflicts between different transportation modes and has caught on in other cities around the country including San Francisco, Austin, and Atlanta.
As you move through this well-integrated system—including a stage turn at LaSalle and Washington (11), a colored zone in the intersection created to enhance the safety of turns for cyclists—remember that the reconfiguration of public rights-of-way to support bicycling marks a return to “mode mixing” on streets not seen since the early twentieth century, when horse-drawn carriages and streetcars were part of the mix. Again, steer west onto Randolph Street beneath the Metra viaduct (12) and head north on Clinton toward Milwaukee Ave–dubbed the “Hipster Highway”–the highest volume cycling route in the city.
(At this point you are about halfway through the tour. If you are using a Divvy bike, remember that trips over 30 minutes cost more. Consider exchanging your bike at the Clinton and Lake Divvy station. The map above shows all 28 Divvy stations within 500 feet of the seven-mile route.)
LEARNING BY SEEING
The next phase of the ride offers evidence of a dramatic shift from planning primarily for recreational riding on the city’s edge to planning for commuting and personal business downtown. For example, new cycling facilities—such as the bike or queue boxes (13) at the intersection of Kinzie, Desplaines and Milwaukee—put cyclists at the head of traffic lanes, making them more visible to motorists and allowing them to get ahead of queuing traffic. At peak travel times, you will see a continuous flow of bicycle commuters moving efficiently through Kinzie’s protected bike lane (14), providing them door to door convenience, and avoiding the hassle of waiting for buses and trains or sitting in traffic. Traffic signals on southbound Wells Street—another popular commuter route (15)–are timed so that Loop-bound bicycles traveling at an average speed of 12 mph will encounter a series of green traffic lights (the “Green Wave“) from Huron to Wacker.
Between 1990 and 2005, the proportional share of commuter trips by bicycle in Chicago and most of the country was relatively flat. Since 2005, Chicago has experienced an impressive 129% growth in bicycle commuters, which likely underestimates the overall growth in active transportation within the city. Much of the credit for this recent upswing in cycling belongs to the city’s Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 (adopted 2011) which charted a vigorous course for bike commuting. According to David Smith, Senior Planner at the Chicago Department of Transportation, cyclists account for 20-30% of all traffic on many of the city’s most-improved bicycle corridors.
Now turn left off Randolph and head south on the Clinton Street bikeway. The protected cycle path forms critical connections to the city’s bus and commuter rail terminals including Ogilvie and Union Stations (17). Paths along both Clinton and Dearborn Street (19) allow for contra-flow cycling or travel in opposite directions. Such a design is new for Chicago and poses potential conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists, hence the on-pavement signage that cautions pedestrians to look both ways before crossing (16). Urban cycle networks are most effective when integrated with well-designed pedestrian facilities (21).
End your ride at the Federal Plaza Divvy Station on Adams Street (20). In only seven miles of downtown Chicago, you’ve now seen first-hand the benefits of investments that support urban cycling. A group of researchers from Western Michigan University’s transportation center we guided on this exact ride saw this as well. Of course, Chicago’s bicycle system can be inconsistent (e.g., buffered path along Harrison [18]) and, in several places, incomplete. But it is easy to appreciate–and see with your own eyes–how downtown Chicago has made cycling a centerpiece of many modern transportation initiatives.
When the conversation isn’t charged up with stories of e-scooters in trees or bodies of water, a major point of focus is the potential “first mile/last mile” mobility benefits that this new mode could bring (especially for transportation buffs like us). Using a sophisticated time of day analysis, our expert, Scott Smith, found strong evidence that Chicagoans are in fact commuting via e-scooter, with the morning rush busier than the evening rush. Many are likely using scooters to reach transit stops. 
