Courtney Cobbs

Making transit, walking, and biking, safer and more convenient would help residents keep more money in their pockets for savings or to stimulate the local economy.

I've had many beautiful and joyful memories of biking around the city this past summer, but I also have a number of biking memories that still cause anger, frustration, and sadness. Just the other day I thought about the parallels between me blaming myself or searching for meaning in the harassment I faced, and the constant self-blame I heard from clients who had experienced interpersonal violence when I worked as a therapist. Harassment from drivers is a form of interpersonal violence, and it’s a shame that many Chicagoans don’t see it as such.

If we want more people to ride buses and bikes, we've got to help make the experience not only safe and efficient, but enjoyable.

An all-electric, free-floating, equity-minded car-share service like Blue LA would be a great replacement. But we should also focus on improving transit and biking so that people rarely need to drive at all.