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Did You Know?

While the Chicago region’s population grew by 18 percent since 1980, the traffic increased by 66 percent in the same period.

Join us March 24 for a forum on the future of suburban transit

Mar 18, 2021 | by Julia Gerasimenko

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis have reshaped the landscape for public transit in our region’s suburban communities.

Dramatic declines in ridership and revenues have forced local agencies to make tough choices about suburban transit service, all while thousands of people throughout the region continue rely on transit to navigate their daily lives. At the same time, opportunities for resilience and innovation are on the horizon.

Join Active Transportation Alliance and Warehouse Workers for Justice for a lunchtime conversation on Wednesday, March 24 at noon, when we’ll explore the opportunities and challenges facing suburban transit, what local agencies are doing about it, and how we can advance a more equitable and just vision for transit.

We will celebrate the passing of the American Rescue Plan, which included additional federal relief for our local transit agencies, and we’ll discuss upcoming opportunities to win parity in federal transportation funding to fix the longstanding inequities in federal transportation funding.

We will hear from Congresswoman Marie Newman on the state of play at the federal level as well as personal testimony from a local suburban transit rider. We hope you can join us for this important conversation!

Speakers:

  • Congresswoman Marie Newman, US Representative for Illinois’ 3rd District
  • Leanne Redden, Executive Director, Regional Transportation Authority
  • Jim Derwinski, Executive Director, Metra
  • Rocky Donahue, Executive Director, Pace
  • Alfred White, Worker Leader, Warehouse Workers for Justice

Moderator:

  • Amy Rynell, Executive Director, Active Transportation Alliance

RSVP for our Transit Justice Forum: The Future of Suburban Transit virtual event now! (RSVP required to receive Zoom link.)

Closed captions and sign language interpretation will be provided. Please email julia@activetrans.org with any accessibility needs or questions. We will also stream live on the Active Transportation Alliance Facebook page.

Image Credit: Pace Suburban Bus