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A few southwest suburban communities, including Summit, are exploring an extension to the popular Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal Trail for biking and walking.Earlier this month, Active Trans joined Summit Mayor Sergio Rodriguez, local advocates and trail development experts for a tour of a potential site for the trail along the Sanitary and Ship Canal in the Village of Summit […]
Mayor Emanuel’s proposal to incentivize housing development near high-ridership bus routes must prioritize on-site affordable units and come with upgrades to bus service. Last week the mayor announced a plan to expand the city’s transit-oriented development (TOD) policy to include high-ridership, high-frequency bus routes like Western, Ashland, Chicago Avenue and 79th Street. The city will study these areas with CTA […]
Active Trans has long been a believer in the power of bike sharing to increase bicycling, sustainability, equity and more. Divvy recently topped 15 million rides since launching in 2013, and new dockless bike-sharing companies offer the potential to improve and expand bike share if cities adopt the right policies. But what about electric scooter sharing? This new service has […]
The Bike to Work Challenge is one of Active Trans’ longest-running and most beloved events. The two-week-long challenge, which started on June 15 and lasts until June 29, gives workplaces throughout Chicagoland an opportunity to go up against one another in a friendly competition. Workplaces compete by earning points and getting the most employees riding to work during the week […]
After a flurry of new construction from 2011 to 2015, the growth of Chicago’s networks of protected bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly streets has unfortunately slowed down. Chicago installed 15.9 miles of new bikeways (including one mile of protected bike lanes) in 2017, down from a peak of 39.5 new miles of bikeways in 2014. Progress on safer streets is clearly […]
Before city leaders go any further in negotiations with Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build and operate express transit service from O’Hare to downtown, they should revisit who the project benefits and if the public-private partnership will slow progress on the region’s more pressing transit needs. Musk’s proposed Chicago Express Loop would transport passengers between O’Hare and Block 37 in […]
The new bicycling infrastructure taking root in Chicago has done much for the city’s reputation as a great place for biking. Building on that reputation is getting named by Bicycling magazine as the best US city for bicycling in 2016. But there is a major problem that has been cutting into this status — and it’s not a minor issue: […]
For more than 30 years, Active Trans has been working to make the Lakefront Trail safer and easier to use. In the past year or so, parts of the trail have taken a quantum leap forward in terms of safety and comfort. But as you probably know, work still needs to be done. Join us on June 28 at Theater […]
Because urban trails encourage more people to bike, walk and run, they happen to be one of the best tools we have to improve public health. This desire to help people improve their health is in part what fuels our work to advance a continuous Chicago River Trail. For the past year, we’ve been working closely with one of our […]
Every day in Illinois, an average of 5 kids are hit by drivers of motor vehicles within one block of a school, and more are hit beyond the school zones. A bill that would help address this tragic daily occurrence while encouraging more walking and biking has passed the Illinois Senate and now heads to Governor Bruce Rauner for approval. […]