How we wait for red lights

With more people biking every day and the city investing more in safer bike lanes, it’s important for people who bike to demonstrate good behavior on our streets and to follow the rules of the road.

We know there are already a lot of people biking who show excellent behavior out there, and we’ve teamed up with photographer Steven E. Gross to take a look at how Chicagoans are waiting at red lights on Dearborn Street.

We love the new bike traffic signals on Dearborn. Literally lit up with a bicycle symbol, they’re like a welcome sign for biking in the Loop, recognizing and legitimizing bike traffic.

They’re also an important safety feature to reduce conflicts been people biking and driving. (We can’t wait to see the new bike signal installed at Milwaukee and Elston soon to improve safety at that intersection!) As a piece of infrastructure, bike traffic signals are significant in that they unmistakably speak directly to people biking.

We’ve noticed that designing a street to acknowledge the presence of people using the roadway is a good way to increase compliance with the rules of the road.

We enjoy seeing how everyone has a different way of waiting for red lights. Here's a snapshot. How do you wait for red lights?

Some people rest one foot on the pedal and one foot on the ground. You can do this while staying on your saddle or getting off your saddle…

Waiting at a red light can be an opportunity to strike up a conversation with a stranger…

Some people wait with their hands in their pockets…

 And some with their hands on the handlebars…

You can wait with a foot on the curb… 

Or both feet on the ground…

You can even do it in dress pants and boots with heels and a shopping bag…  

Tell us how you wait for red lights! Share a comment below or hit us up on social media: @activetrans on Twitter or https://www.facebook.com/activetrans.