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About The Bicycling Ambassadors…
Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors are a group of bicycle
safety and education specialists who have been reaching out to all
Chicagoans since 2001.
Education is a key component in accomplishing the goals of the City of Chicago’s Bike
2000 Plan, and the newly released Bike
2015 Plan, which seek to improve the quality and safety of the bicycling environment
in the city.
Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors work toward
the
following objectives:
- To increase the number of trips madeby bicycle,
- To reduce the number of bicycle-related injuries and
- To help all users – bike riders, motorists and pedestrians – better share roads and off-street trails.
To accomplish these goals, the Ambassadors appear at events city-wide to reach as many
Chicagoans as possible with bicycle safety education. Ambassadors talk face-to-face with
Chicagoans and give presentations to kids, teens and adults by participating in existing
community events. They work in teams and travel by bicycle to events all over the city.
Mayor Daley’s Junior Ambassadors
Junior Ambassadors are a team of teenagers who work with the Bicycling Ambassadors to
spread bicycle safety messages for six weeks in the summer.
Sponsored by the Chicago Park District, the Junior Ambassadors work with Mayor Daley’s
Bicycling Ambassadors from late June through early August. During the Junior Ambassador
season, many events focus on peer-to-peer education. Chicago Park District day camps serve
as the primary vehicle for this type of outreach.
To become Junior Ambassadors, the teens complete a 16-week after-school
bicycle safety and repair class offered
by After School Matters, a not-for-profit agency that offers Chicago
teenagers an opportunity to learn job skills and apply those skills
at different summer jobs. As Junior Ambassadors, the teens have the
opportunity to share the bicycle safety
information they learned with thousands of children and adults throughout
Chicago.
The Junior Ambassador program is the only peer-to-peer education program of its kind.
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