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CityLab Article on Curbee in Chicago

The Curbee Invites Cyclists to Rest at Red Lights

A Copenhagen urban-biking staple finds its way to Chicago.

Image One of the first cyclists to try Curbee in Chicago. (Steven Vance )

Cyclists in Chicago just got a sweet new treat called Curbee, a streetside footrest and handrail that will make waiting for the red light much more enticing. 

Designed and installed by Steven Vance and Ryan Lakes, both active members of Chicago’s cycling community, the Curbee now lives at the corner of Milwaukee and Ogden Avenue. 



Though it's definitely inspired by biker footrests in Copenhagen, the Curbee is designed a little differently. For example, where its Scandinavian counterpart features a circular steel tube, the Curbee uses a square tube in order to prevent vandalism via pipe cutters. And taking a note from Chicago bike racks—which Vance says have proven largely durable—the Curbee is mounted right on top of the sidewalk rather than buried within it. 

The finished product may look simple, but the actual process of getting the Curbee up and running was long and complicated. Initially conceived in March 2013, the rollout for this first Curbee took over a year. Just to get started, Vance and Lakes had to enlist the help of a slew of local organizations: The bicycle law firm FK Law  funded the project, the Pedal to the People bike repair service fabricated the Curbee, and local bike non-profit West Town Bikes sponsored the public-use permit required for any sort of "street furniture." And in order for the permit to be approved by the City Council, the Curbee also had to get the blessing of the Chicago Department of Transportation and the local alderman. When the permit was finally approved about a month ago, the Curbee was installed shortly after. 

Vance and Lakes, testing out Curbee. 

Interested in installing a Curbee in your city? The team behind Curbee is taking custom orders online. The cost for one Curbee will range between $600 and $1,200, depending on the length of the rail, the height of the curb, and additional color and design options. But before shelling out a grand for the steel, it’s critical to first understand how a Curbee addition will affect its surrounding area. For example, if you want to put one in a business district, talking to the business alliance there might uncover whether the location is really a suitable one. In a phone interview, Vance says they had monitored the current Curbee location to make sure there was little pedestrian traffic—and of course, no bus stops that it would block.

In the week following its installation, Vance and Lakes have been observing how people are interacting with the Curbee. For example, they've noticed that the Curbee’s function is not totally obvious to some cyclists at first. That’s why the pair is considering adding a graphic of a footprint on the footplate, so people can look down and think, Oh, my foot belongs there. In any case, Vance expects people to catch on quickly over the next few weeks as they watch one another figure out their way around the new amenity.

(h/t Streetsblog Chicago

All images courtesy of Steven Vance.  

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I was excited to use this coming northbound last night, but there was an SUV taxi that had pulled in front if it! Gah! Maybe I'll catch the light tomorrow and get to try it out!

Same. I had a pet theory that you could tell whether a cyclist is right- or left-handed by which leg they keep straight/extended when "coasting" (right-handed people keep their right leg straight, left-handed people keep their left leg straight).

But I took my younger brother for a ride while he was visiting this weekend and saw that he keeps his left leg extended, even though he is right-handed.

Jeff Schneider said:

I like the idea of having something to hold with my hand.  But the foot rest I couldn't use.  I am right-handed and never put my right foot down; I keep it on the pedal ready to push off.

It looks like it would make it harder to leave a stop with any kind of appreciable power...

Your theory is not far off but it's complicated by that fact that women are much more likely to weight bear through the left leg when coasting.  The theory there being that growing up they'd have been more likely to have a bike that was n't fitted properly i.e. too big and would have formed the habit of putting their right leg down on the curb.  Obviously may apply more to older women, and those who grew up in places that had curbs....

(oops, edit-- on re-read I think you have it backwards--- the "straight leg" ultimately comes to be  chosen because the leg on the dominant side is used to lead/push off on the pedal-- so the straight leg is going to more likely be on the non-dominant side, unless influenced by poor bike fit as described above.)

Alex Z said:

Same. I had a pet theory that you could tell whether a cyclist is right- or left-handed by which leg they keep straight/extended when "coasting" (right-handed people keep their right leg straight, left-handed people keep their left leg straight).

But I took my younger brother for a ride while he was visiting this weekend and saw that he keeps his left leg extended, even though he is right-handed.

Jeff Schneider said:

I like the idea of having something to hold with my hand.  But the foot rest I couldn't use.  I am right-handed and never put my right foot down; I keep it on the pedal ready to push off.

But back to the furbee flowbee curbee, I wanted to post about this when I discovered it (somehow on the first day it was installed...) but thought it would be better to keep it on the dl so that it would be possible to watch people who don't know what it is try to figure it out.  Guess the secret's out....

I would soooooo love to watch extended footage of people discovering it for the first time, if anyone has some (the guy in the film above is obviously just an "actor.")

It is not important.  It is merely an amenity for cyclists.  I, for one, want to see more non-important amenities for cyclists.

In this particular case, I often use street fixtures, if available, to grab hold of, rather than putting my foot down (or performing that annoying track-stand dance) at a stop.  If I were stopped where one of these existed, I would definitely use it.



Jennifer on the lake said:

Why is this important?

+1 to Dug's comment and what about grabbing one of these things in the w*nter? Knit some sweet cozies, perhaps?

Just install more U racks, please. Secure parking's more of an issue out in the neighborhoods, especially at the shopping centers. I don't need someone to hold my hand at a stoplight.

My gut feeling is that this is going to be a failure simply because of the metal "recyclers" in Chicago.  They have cut down air conditioning units from the top of businesses, they have stolen metal signs identifying neighborhoods, they have even stolen statues.    And the "commercial" scrap metal guys keep buying this stuff.   This will simply be twisted pieces of black metal.  

I give it two weeks at the most before it is gone, and I would not be shocked to see it go this weekend..   say three am on Sunday morning..

Seeing this daily I assumed it was an unfinished framework for something, encroaching in my peripheral space with unforgiving black metal edges.  To someone who's rarely even had a passing thought of wanting a foot up at a corner, it's aesthetically jarring while being a pedestrian obstacle.  Now I know, not construction debris, it's a billboard.  Either way, needs yarn bombing.

No it doesn't.  The last thing that needs is a layer of yarn that'll slide on the metal below when someone puts a foot down on it.  Yarn bombing it is a great way to turn it into a non-functional piece of metal that'll slowly get uglier over time.

Andronymous said:

Seeing this daily I assumed it was an unfinished framework for something, encroaching in my peripheral space with unforgiving black metal edges.  To someone who's rarely even had a passing thought of wanting a foot up at a corner, it's aesthetically jarring while being a pedestrian obstacle.  Now I know, not construction debris, it's a billboard.  Either way, needs yarn bombing.

Amenities for people on bikes can lead to more people on bikes, which can lead to more amenities for people on bikes... which could possibly increase funding for better bike infrastructure including more bike racks - which would put more people on bikes.

 I'll be gladly using these when the opportunity arises.

Thus far more people on bikes has mostly resulted in more cyclists complaining about each-other.
 
Eric R said:

Amenities for people on bikes can lead to more people on bikes, which can lead to more amenities for people on bikes... which could possibly increase funding for better bike infrastructure including more bike racks - which would put more people on bikes.

 I'll be gladly using these when the opportunity arises.

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