Event celebrates 2,000 supporters signing on to support bus rapid transit in Chicago

For Immediate Release

CONTACT:
Brenna Conway
Active Transportation Alliance
312-427-3325 x392
Mobile: 414-803-1200
Brenna@activetrans.org

Event celebrates 2,000 supporters signing on to support bus rapid transit in Chicago
Join the celebration on Tuesday, Oct. 15. at Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland Ave.

CHICAGO — October 14, 2013 – Active Transportation Alliance announced today that the number of Chicago residents and businesses that have signed on as supporters of bringing bus rapid transit (BRT) to Chicago recently surpassed 2,000.

To mark this milestone Active Trans is partnering with Streetsblog Chicago to host a celebration Tuesday, Oct. 15 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland Ave. The event will provide an opportunity to thank local businesses and volunteers who have dedicated their time to support the campaign and will highlight the thousands of people who support improving public transportation through BRT.

BRT brings the speed and reliability of the “L” to buses on the street, ensuring regular, on-time arrivals with fewer delays. With BRT, buses travel in dedicated lanes while making stops at train-like boarding stations along the way.

Support for BRT in Chicago has been strong. In addition to the 2,000-plus supporters who signed on to Active Trans’ petition, a recent survey commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation shows that a majority (59 percent) of Chicagoans support bringing BRT to the city, and 73 percent said they would take BRT instead of driving or taking other forms of public transit if it made their commute faster.

The City of Chicago and CTA are currently considering options for BRT in the Central Loop and on Ashland Avenue to make it easier to get to destinations and attractions throughout the city, while connecting more people to more jobs and neighborhoods. Proposed plans for Ashland would improve the reliability of buses by 50 percent and save the average commuter nearly 65 hours each year compared to the local bus. The BRT route would connect to more than 130,000 jobs from Irving Park Road to 95th Street.

“This is the kind of transit improvement that Chicagoans have wanted for years,” says Ron Burke, Executive Director of Active Trans. “We’ve received such an enthusiastic response to BRT that just in the past few weeks, a dozen people have volunteered to walk door-to-door and visit bus stops with us, talking to business owners and transit riders on Ashland about why BRT is important to them. The Oct. 15 event is to celebrate them and the movement they have helped to build.”

Following the event, supporters can join Streetsblog Chicago for a stroll down to Park Tavern Gastropub, 1645 West Jackson, and join in a BeeRT pub crawl.

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The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. The Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 7,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 40 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.