Informative Speech Flashcards
It’s loud, incredibly frustrating, time consuming, and it’s polluting the air that we breathe.
Everyone knows what I’m talking about, I’m talking about traffic.
Not all traffic’s the same, though. The kind that I’m going to be talking about today is environmentally friendly, and is becoming safer and more accessible everyday.
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Today I want to talk to you about cycling in the city and the infrastructure thats in place for you to take advantage of.
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You may be wondering what I mean by “infrastructure.”
In the case of urban cycling, infrastructure are the bike lanes you see painted on the streets, the lakefront path, and the bike parking racks right outside of Harold Washington.
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Like many of you, I hate wasting time sitting in the car in Chicago’s seemingly constant gridlocked traffic. Because of this gridlock many of us end up late for work or even late to the bar to watch whatever game is on with friends.
Having worked as a bike messenger here in Chicago for four years I know how much quicker
and how much less stressful it can be to rely on a bike to get around than a car.
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Divvy, if you haven’t noticed, is expanding all over the city, the City of Chicago is adding miles and miles of on street bike lanes as well as off street cycle paths, and more bike parking racks are being installed on the streets as well as inside some places you probably already frequent.
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[Lets follow the same sequence of events you will on an average trip. The first thing you’re going to need to get from point A to B is a bike. If you dont have one already, Divvy is here to set you up.]
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Divvy is a service that provides people access to rental bikes from automated stations all over
the city.
Convenient rental stations are located all over, from Andersonville to Hyde Park. To find a station nearest to you, check out their web site at:
www.divvybikes.com.
The service is affordable. According to their web site a $75.00 annual fee gets you unlimited 30 minute trips.
A 24-hour pass will run you $7.00 for unlimited 30 minute trips.
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[Bikes are everywhere, you may even have one collecting dust out in the garage. Now that you know that they are readily available, let’s talk about riding it.]
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Just like cars, bikes have specific lanes designated for them both on the city’s streets and off.
According to the City of Chicago’s web site, there are currently 200 miles of on-street bike lanes as well as off-street paths.
By 2020 they plan on installing 445 additional miles, that would put every resident of the city no further than a half mile from a route.
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On-street bike lanes.
Shared bike lanes are those that are designated by painted lines alone. Often you’ll see a stick figure riding a bike and a direction arrow painted right there on the right side of a lane.
Protected bike lanes are becoming more common. These bike lanes are separated from motor traffic mostly with a row of parked cars. Essentially the
bike lane switches spots with the parked cars.
Off-street paths are exactly what the sound like. The most notable is the Lakefront Path, but there are others like the Major Taylor Trail on the south side.
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[You’ve got a bike, you know there are lanes that’ll lead you everywhere you want to go, now where are you going to park that thing?]
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There are many option when it comes time to securely lock up.
Outdoor bike racks are everywhere, there are even a bunch right outside of Harold Washington College on Lake Street.
There are many indoor options as well. McDonalds Cycle Center is locates in Millennium Park.Many CTA rail stations have bike racks inside of them.
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[There is much more to tell of the ever expanding bicycle infrastructure here in Chicago, but what I’ve covered in these few minutes should get you rolling.]
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Hopefully I was able to adequately inform you about how Divvy is trying to help you out by
installing bike rental stations all over the city, about how the City of Chicago already has and
plans to add miles and miles of on-street bike lanes as well as off-street cycle paths, and where
you can safely park and lock up your whip.
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Stop stressing over how hard it’s going to be to find a parking spot when you go out to meet
friends for dinner. Stop losing your temper and honking at others who are in the same shit
situation you are, stuck at a red light in gridlocked traffic late for work. Stop spending so much money filling up the tank and hop on a bike instead. The exercise, the extra cash in your wallet, and the time you were spared inching along in traffic slower than you can walk will all add up to a much easier commute.
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