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As of May 2018, more than sixteen hundred bike-share programs are in operation worldwide, providing eighteen million bicycles for public use.27 In the United States, there are more than one hundred bike-share programs. A report from the National Association of City Transportation Officials states that there were thirty-five million bike-share trips in 2017, a 25 percent increase from the previous year.28 Many cyclists now rely on these platforms to get around.

Some cities have met the needs of cyclists better than others. Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Portland, Oregon, are considered some of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, meaning that biking is encouraged and city infrastructure was designed with cyclists’ safety in mind.29 In the United States, the League of American Bicyclists’ “Bike Friendly Communities” ratings gave high marks to Portland, Boulder (Colorado), Davis (California), Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago.30

Chicago Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein told me that Chicago has 248 miles of bike lanes. This encompasses protected lanes, buffered bike lanes, and marked share lanes, and Chicago hopes to raise this to 645 miles by 2020.31 Gabe said that the 2020 vision came about thanks to a partnership between Chicago’s Department of Transportation and citizen activists. In his words, “Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, and the people who know each neighborhood best are those that bike, walk, and drive them on a daily basis.” Gabe said that the city of Chicago envisions a network of bike lanes and bike trails that will boost the quality of life of its citizens, and that the plan is based on three guiding strategies: