Celebrating Chicagoland’s leaders in walking, biking and transit

Mayor Rahm Emanuel addresses the crowd

Active Trans wants to thank everyone who attended our awards reception this week. We also want to thank the Revolution Brewery Tap Room for hosting the event and, of course, our honorees for their great work in continuing to turn the Chicago area into a hub of active transportation.

Our top award, The Extra Mile Award, went to Mayor Rahm Emanuel who, during his time in office has started the Divvy bike sharing program, installed many miles of innovative bike lanes, begun work on new bus rapid transit routes and overseen the reconstruction of the Red Line south.

A Public Leadership Award went to the City of Evanston for being the first Chicago suburb to put in protected bike lanes. And we want to commend the city for having 37.3 percent of its commuters use some form of active transportation. 

Public Leadership Awards also went to 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly, 25th Ward Ald. Danny Solis and 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnet, all of whom have worked for better transportation in their wards by supporting protected bike lanes, launching bike education programs and welcoming Open Streets events.

 A Public Leadership Award also went to Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein for overseeing the rapid improvement of transportation in Chicago during the past couple of years.

Evanston's Director of Public Works Suzette Robinson (left) and Mayor Beth Tisdahl (center) accept an award from Active Trans Executive Director Ron Burke

Active Trans handed out Business Leadership Awards to bicycle component manufacturer SRAM and the e-commerce company Groupon. Both of these Chicago-based companies have shown their dedication to make the city a friendlier, more accessible place for bikers and walkers.

Congratulations to all our award recipients! And we’d again like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Revolution Brewery Tap Room for hosting and to all our attendees!

CDOT Commissoner Gabe Klein (left) with Burke