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Executive Summary In 2007, the City of Chicago dispatched a team of outreach specialists known as Mayor Daleys Bicycling Ambassadors. The team was given the following goals: To increase the number of trips made by bicycle. To improve safe bicycling practices through education and reduce the number of bicyclingrelated injuries and fatalities. To help all users bike riders, motorists and pedestrians better share roads and off-street trails. .
Ambassador Sarah helps a rider fit her helmet properly.
festivals, athletic competitions, community bike rides, farmers markets and especially Chicago Park District summer day camps.
This group included six Bicycling Ambassadors and seven Junior Ambassadors, as well as a program director and Junior Ambassador coordinator. Working in teams, these individuals appeared at events city-wide to reach as many Chicagoans as possible. Events included outreach and education at libraries, schools,
This summer, Mayor Daleys Bicycling Ambassadors made 328 appearances. During the 5month season, the Ambassador team contacted approximately 36,400 people with face-to-face
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education and an additional 2.5 million through media exposure. Most of the people in direct contact with the Ambassadors received bike-safety literature, including information about helmet use, bicycling with family Event Detail
and using the bike lane; all of them received encouragement to use bicycles more often and more safely. The Ambassadors also properly helmet fit over 1,400 children and adults.
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Event Type and Number Mayor Daleys Bicycling Ambassadors attended 328 events in 2007. Each dot represents one of these events:
Initiated or Hosted by Number of Events
The table above shows the type and number of events that the Bicycling Ambassadors were able to attend. Mayor Daleys Bicycling Ambassadors attended a wide variety of events in order to reach a diverse group of Chicagoans.
Media Ambassadors appeared in the media several times, reaching an estimated 2.5 million people. Media appearances included a Metro section front page in the Chicago Tribune and a Sunday evening feature on FOX News Chicago.
Ambassadors attended events in each Aldermanic ward and every Police District.
Excerpts from the Monday August 13th Chicago Tribune Metro Section.
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Focus on Youth
In 2007, the Ambassador program reached more than 17,100 young people with bicycle safety messages. One of the strategies to reach this target audience is the Junior Ambassador program.
Junior Ambassador Angel and Ambassador Owen Show campers at Bell Park the ABC Quick Check.
Adults, 43%
Junior Ambassador Paul shares safety information with a pedestrian on the Lake Front Trail.
Youth, 14%
Junior Ambassadors are a team of teenagers sponsored by the Chicago Park District. The Junior Ambassadors work with the Bicycling Ambassadors staff for six weeks in the summer, from late June to early August. The focus of the Junior Ambassador season is peerto-peer education and Chicago Park District day camps are the primary locations for this type of education. The chart on the right shows that 47% of Ambassador outreach focused on children and youth in 2007.
The young people complete a 16 week afterschool bicycle safety and repair class to prepare them to work alongside Mayor Daleys Bicycling Ambassadors, where they use their skills to educate other young people. In 2007, Junior Ambassadors gave bicycle safety instruction at 133 Park District day camps. The Junior Ambassador program is the only peer-to-peer education program of its kind.
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Master Lock Patagonia Planet Bike REI Timbuk2 designs West Town Bikes Giant Working Bikes Cooperative
Ambassador Elesabeth talks to a bike commuter at the Bike to Work Day Rally.
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