Transit Advocacy
Southwest siders face all sorts of barriers to cycling or walking in our neighborhoods, from streets that end abruptly at factories or freight lines to a lack of bike- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure. But riding in our communities is possible, and we’ve hosted dozens of community bike rides to prove it. Our family-friendly routes kick off from a southwest side park, stick to the side streets, and only cross major streets like Archer at traffic lights or stop signs.
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Join us for our next bike ride, or ride one of our many previous routes at your leisure. Our rides go approximately 3-5 miles—or about 30 minutes at a leisurely pace. Enjoy!
our next bike ride:
spring 2026
location TBD
Meet Dixon
our Transit Advocacy Steward
Dixon Galvez-Searle has been organizing family-friendly bike rides in our community since 2018, and holding down this end of SWC since its humble beginnings. He loves to ride his bike, and he has tirelessly pushed for safer streets so that you can discover this joy, too.
chicago bike grid now!
The Southwest Collective has joined forces with the folks from Chicago, Bike Grid Now! to advocate for a safe, accessible, and connected grid of pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets. We hosted a bike jam in Gage Park in 2022 and helped organize south side Tour de Grid rides in 2023 and 2024 to bring attention to the need for safer streets.
EXPLORE OUR bike ROUTEs
Couldn’t make one of our monthly rides? No worries—we’ve mapped out our routes so you can ride safely and comfortable whenever you have the time. Remember, all of our routes are family-friendly and accessible, which means they stick exclusively to the side streets and only cross major streets at a traffic light or a stop sign. Enjoy!
SAFE STREETS 4 ALL
The Southwest Collective is proud to advocate for safer streets throughout the southwest side—and all across Chicago—as part of the Safe Streets 4 All Coalition. We’ve signed on to a platform that calls for protected bike lanes, more robust public transit, and street design that will reduce dangerous speeding.
